Our Father, Who Art In Heaven
by soundofmadness223
Summary: Mello and Matt have been best friends since they were children. Now, as teens, both of their horrifying pasts come back to haunt them, sending them on a case that they'll never forget. Rated M for language and LEMON.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, all!**

**This is my first adventure into the fanfic world...so remember that I'm still learning...**

**I do not own Death Note (sadly). If I did, there would be a lot more MelloxMatt.**

**In saying that, this is a YAOI story, so if you don't like yaoi, then I highly suggest that you don't read.**

**And thanks to tenspeed457 for being my beta reader. 3  
**

**I hope you like it. :)  
**

Prologue

Mello remembered it.

Everyone thought he didn't, but he did.

He remembered every single moment of the time of his mother's death. He remembered the blood, the horrific, soul-ripping screams, and his mother's pleas for him to run.

He remembered running to the back of the house, near the tool shed, and cowering behind it, hoping to find some sort of protection. He had crouched in the dirt, tears flowing down his delicate face as he imagined the terrible things happening inside the house where he had always felt safe.

Now, it felt like a nightmare.

Mello didn't know how long he sat there, huddled in the fetal position, his shoulders shaking with violent sobs. After awhile, he knew that some sort of time had passed, since when he gained some kind of awareness again, it was dawn, the rising sun above their house turning the sky purple, red, and orange. Mello stared at the beautiful sunrise, knowing that what awaited inside his house would be the exact opposite.

He felt strangely numb as he managed to get up, wiping the dirt off of his pajama pants. He stumbled back inside, and at first, he wondered if maybe he had had some sort of terrible nightmare. Everything looked normal; the kitchen, kept spotlessly clean by his mother, still looked like she would come bustling in at any moment to cook pancakes or waffles for breakfast. He then wandered into the living room, and that, too, looked as it had the night before: the aquarium lights on, his sweatshirt hanging precariously off the couch, and his backpack and school supplies tossed haphazardly onto the floor.

Mello continued upstairs, and hope surged through him. Maybe it had been some sort of terrible dream after all, and he had sleepwalked outside. He would go upstairs to his mother's bedroom, tell her the story, and the two of them would laugh about it, and to make sure the nightmares stayed away, she would help him make his favorite chocolate chip pancakes, her hand firmly over his as he helped her stir.

But the hope in Mello evaporated quickly when he peeked in his mother's bedroom.

There was blood everywhere. God, there was so much blood. It covered everything. The mauve carpet his mother had loved so much was covered in patches of a sick reddish-brown color, and the lavender walls his mother had spent a week picking out the color and another week painting had fared no better.

But most especially, it covered his mother.

Mello took a deep breath, fighting against the panic, horror, and revulsion that he felt building in his chest, and walked over to where his mother lay. Her face was twisted into a grimace that was like some sort of sick parody of a smile. Her skin, usually pink and vibrant with life, had been leeched of color, resembling porcelain; lifeless and broken. Her body bore the semblance of a marionette as she lay splayed on the ground, her limbs bent at unnatural angles.

Mello knelt down and touched his mother's face softly. Even in death, his mother was still beautiful. He stroked her blond hair, which he had inherited, and softly touched the delicate cheekbones, which he had as well. Mello had always thought she was the most beautiful woman in the entire world.

And now she was dead.

Mello was about to get up when he noticed the chain around her neck. He gently picked it up. It was his mother's rosary, which she wore everyday, grasping it in her tiny hands as she moved from bead to bead to recite her prayers. He stared at the jeweled rosary, his mother's greatest treasure, and settled down next to her lifeless body. He began to pray as his mother had taught him, hoping maybe, just maybe, if he prayed hard enough, this would indeed prove to be no more than a sick nightmare.

**Well...this is just the prologue. So, of course it's short, and kind of mysterious. **

**BUT. I hope you all liked it. Please review, because it makes me better in my writing.**

**And no worries...Matt will make an appearance next chapter.**

**I hope you enjoyed it. :)  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey. :)**

**I don't own Death Note, although I wish I did...**

**Thanks for reading!  
**

Chapter One

Matt was not one to be angry.

In fact, he wasn't one to feel much of anything except complete and total indifference and apathy towards everybody and everything around him, except maybe his video games. Those...those held a special place in Matt's heart.

But right now, he could feel the anger seeping through him, eating at him. Normally, anger was Mello's emotion; Mello knew how to harness it, control it, and unleash it at the right time (well, usually), but Matt...Matt just didn't.

However, as he stared at the broken body of his beloved Playstation 3, laying crushed on the floor, he knew he was about to unleash said anger.

Matt eyes roved around to land on his blonde roommate, who was lounging on his bed as though he had not a care in the world. He was surrounded by what looked to be his History of Russia notes, and he had his Russian History textbook open to a chapter on Stalin. He was humming to himself the theme song of Pokemon.

That damn bastard.

"Mello. What the _fuck_ happened to my Playstation?" Matt asked, trying to sound calm, but failing entirely. He even lifted up his orange tinted googles to reveal his eyes to let Mello know he meant business.

Mello's gaze slowly lifted up from the book to look at Matt. Mello, with his beautiful, gorgeous blue eyes that pierced you, staring into the very depths of your soul. Azure eyes that could flash happiness in one second, and melt into malicious mocking in another. Matt had to literally drag his eyes away to keep from staring at them too long.

"Your Playstation, Matt?" Mello asked sweetly, as he very deliberately closed his textbook, marking his page with a scrap piece of paper. He sat it down carefully and got up from the bed, unfolding his legs so he could stand up at his full 6'2.''

"Yeah. My Playstation. My fucking _Playstation_. The Playstation that is now, currently, crushed," Matt said dryly. "Any clue why, Mello?"

Mello's gaze slid to the Playstation and then went to look back at Matt. It always caught him off guard when Matt took off his goggles. As far as Mello knew, he was the only person Matt took his goggles off around. Mello wondered why he never did take them off; Matt had beautiful green eyes that, if you looked close enough, had flecks of gold surrounding the pupils.

Not that Mello had, you know, stared at Matt's eyes or anything. It's just something that he would notice, rooming with the guy for ten years. I mean, they had been both at Wammy's House, an orphanage for brilliant children, since Mello was seven and Matt was five. You noticed a lot of things when you've been best friends with a person since you were seven.

"Well, Matt, I _might _have thrown your Playstation against the wall."

Matt took a deep breath. Mello always did stupid shit like that when he got angry. Matt would just play some good old fashioned Pokemon and win a few battles, but Mello had to throw something, or break something, or oftentimes, both.

"And, why, Mello, would you throw my _three hundred dollar _gaming system out the window?" Matt's voice had gotten a little louder with each word.

Mello smirked. _God_, Matt thought, _he has such an annoying fucking smirk._

"It may have had something to do with you not getting my fucking chocolate!"

Ah. Mello's addiction to chocolate required him to have chocolate available 24/7, and somehow, through the years, it had become Matt's job to make sure it was around. Although...it was sort of to his benefit to make sure it was, or Mello would be in a terrible mood. So now it all made sense to Matt.

"I'm sorry, Mel. I got through the last boss on _The World Ends With You_ finally! I mean, it was awesome! I've been trying to get through that for weeks, and I finally did..." Matt trailed off as he saw the totally bored look on his best friend's face.

"So you beat your stupid game, did you?"

"Yeah," Matt answered lamely. "And the kitchen was closed by the time I got done last night..."

Mello's eyes narrowed. "So...my chocolate held no importance to you at all?" Mello came to stand really close to Matt, because he knew Matt hated that. Mello was a good three inches taller, and it just made Matt nervous, especially since every inch of him was muscle. Not hugely bulky, but just enough to fill out that lean frame. Plus, he dressed all in leather; black leather which clung to his body, accentuating every contour. On anybody else, it would have looked stupid, but on Mello...it just looked good.

"Sorry, Mel," Matt said finally. He sighed. "I just forgot, all right?"

Mello glared at him. Matt hated it when Mello glared at him, because it meant you couldn't break the glare. Mello's eyes just kind of had that effect. And when Matt had to look at Mello, he began to notice things about him.

Like, how Mello's face was so delicately structured, with high cheekbones, and a straight, aristocratic nose. His face was almost androgynous, but to Matt, everything about Mello was purely _male_. Even his hair, which was a soft blonde color and which he wore a little long, didn't make him look feminine. The way his bangs hung in his blue eyes....

Matt shook himself out of it. He did this with Mello; he absolutely admired his best friend's gorgeousness.

And, well, Matt was just man enough to admit he might have _liked_ his best friend's gorgeousness.

But that thought was going to have to take a backseat to his smashed Playstation.

"Okay. Fine." Mello went to sit back on his bed. "Just...don't do it again."

"Did you have to smash it?" Matt asked mournfully, kneeling down to pick it up. "Roger won't let me get another one."

Mello exhaled inwardly. Fuck. Fucking Matt with his fucking puppy dog eyes! He was the _only_ person in the world who could make Mello feel guilty. In fact, he was the only person in the world who could make Mello feel a lot of things.

Although he totally wasn't willing to admit it.

"I'm sorry. Chocolate withdrawals, and today..." Mello shook his head and stopped talking.

Matt caught on, though. "Right. I forgot. Today's the first of the month. Grades came out today."

Matt never cared about his grades. He was completely brilliant but entirely lazy, and he never was number one. And honest to God, he could care less.

But Mello cared.

Oh, but Mello cared. He had to be number one in _everything_. Absolutely everything, especially in grades. Mello had always been first until two years ago, when a boy called Near came to Wammy's. Completely antisocial, and more than a little weird, Near, with seemingly little effort, started to dominate the grades, coming in first for everything. And since then, Mello had made it life mission to beat Near. And, well, torture Matt.

"Near came in first again?"

Mello glared at Matt again. "Shut the fuck up. I'll beat him next week."

Matt glared back. "Just don't smash my Playstation next time, you bastard!"

Mello grinned sadistically. "Sorry, Matt..." His grin quickly turned into a sneer. "But next time don't forget my fucking chocolate!"

Matt took a few deep breaths. He was so non-confrontational, which in one way with Mello was good, but sometimes, Mello would walk all over him.

"Okay, fine. I'll go get some chocolate," Matt said, accepting defeat. Whatever he did, it wouldn't matter, and besides, his luck would be that Mello would get even angrier, and smash his beloved DS. He couldn't live without his DS.

"Good," Mello mumbled, already absorbed back into his textbook. "Don't come back without it!"

* * *

Okay, so maybe it was a _little_ overboard to smash Matt's Playstation 3. But grades had come out and Near had beat him _again_, and when he had come back to their room to get some comfort from chocolate, there had been NONE. Mother fucking son of a bitch.

And of course, the only person Mello could put the blame on was Matt. Matt was always his scapegoat, was the only person who would put up with this shit. Matt was his best friend, his partner.

And as of right now, the only person he loved.

Not _loved loved_. No. No way. Mello wasn't...that way. Right? I mean, sure Matt was the only person that he trusted, the only person that he talked to, the only person who was always there for him, no matter what.

And sure, he may have stared at Matt for a little too long. Stared at the way his brownish red hair hung a little past his startling green eyes, which he had to keep pushing back, or at his face, structured in a way you only ever see in magazines, _not_ the guy who you shared a room with.

And he may have liked the fact that Matt was a little odd. I mean, the guy had an obsession with video/computer games you wouldn't believe, and also in computers in general. He could hack into _anything_, of that Mello was sure. He also always wore those damn goggles, and the striped shirts, and that weird vest, but on Matt's thin frame, he looked good in them.

But all that didn't mean he liked him.

Right?

Mello shook himself out of his reverie so he could stare down at his textbook. Matt had been the first person Mello had met at Wammy's, so he and Matt shared a special bond.

Mello sighed, and flipped open his Russian History textbook again. He had a major exam to study for, and this month, he _was_ going to beat Near, no matter what.

**So...thanks for reading!**

**Reviews are always apprecited!  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, everyone. :)**

**I hope you're enjoying this so far. **

**This is the last slow chapter, I swear! The next chapter has some MelloxMatt action, I promise. I had to just lay out everything, you know? :)**

**Unfortunately, I don't own Death Note. If I did, it would be much different...**

**And thanks to tenspeed457 for being my awesome beta.  
**

Chapter two

It was a good three or four hours later when Mello finally noticed the growing dark in the room. He tore his eyes away from his textbook to see that the sun had already set, leaving behind a soft blue that would eventually fade into an ominous black. Mello often lost complete track of time when he was studying, and it looked like tonight was no exception. When he glanced at the clock on his beside table, it glowed 8:31 p.m. It had been roughly six hours since Matt had gone to fetch Mello's chocolate.

So where the fuck was he?

Mello sat aside the book, and crawled out of bed, careful not to crush the notes he had had spread out all around him. The room had now darkened enough that Mello was forced to make his way over to the light switch, only to run into something hard on the ground, stubbing his toe.

"Fuck!" Mello muttered, as he grabbed his injured foot and hopped precariously to the wall where the light switch was located. He flipped it on, only to see what he had tripped over on the floor was the scattered remains of Matt's cherished Playstation.

"That was karma," Mello said, to no one in particular before grabbing his shoes and heading out the door, shutting the lights off behind him. Matt only went off Wammy's campus when it was absolutely crucial, like a new Kingdom Hearts game was coming out, but as far as Mello knew, there wasn't any new game coming out. And surely, Mello would know. Matt wouldn't shut up about it for weeks on end about a new game. So, logically, Matt had to be in Wammy's somewhere, and Mello was going to find him and see what the fuck he had done with his chocolate.

Since Wammy's was so large, it took Mello almost an hour to finally locate his best friend. He saw Matt, sitting on the floor next to a couch in one of the living rooms, with his DS clutched in his hands. He was completely intent on it, as though that DS held the answer to all of the world problems. But nothing about that picture was out of the ordinary.

However, what was out of the picture was that Matt was with someone.

And not just anyone.

He was with _Near_.

Mello could feel his face scrunch up in disdain as he looked at the younger boy. His enemy, his nemesis. The bane of his existence was this little boy, with skin as white as paper, and silvery white hair to match. Everything about Near drove Mello crazy, from him beating him _every single time _grades-wise, to his love of games, stuffed animals, and stacking things. There was not a thing about Near that Mello liked.

And here Near was, peering intently over Matt's shoulder at his DS, all enraptured in what Matt was doing, while Matt was explaining the finer point of some stupid new game.

Wait. Wow. That was _their_ thing. Matt always explained the games to him, even if Mello could care less. But still, it was their thing.

Mello was surprised when he felt some sort of a sick possessive feeling stab through him. He had never really been that possessive of Matt. Well, maybe a little, but it had always worked out that way. Besides, neither of them had any friends except each other, so Mello had always gotten Matt to himself. He'd never _had _to share him... So he really wasn't _that_ possessive; it was just circumstance.

Oh, hell, okay, he was possessive. Because everyone knew Matt was _his_.

_His_ best friend, _his _partner, _his _roommate.

He and Matt had always done everything together, from the time when they had first started at Wammy's. Mello had entered the orphanage when he was seven, and Matt had been five. The day he had came to Wammy's had been the best day of his life.

Roger had led him into the intimidating building by the hand, although Mello had tried to pull away from him the whole way. Mello wanted to be _independent_, and how could he do it with an old man leading him by the hand? Besides, Roger was a big man, and Mello hated big people. They could hurt you.

Roger had led him up to his room, and right away, Mello was very unhappy. There were two beds instead of one, which meant he was going to have to share his room.

His disdain heightened when he saw _who_ he was going to have to share his room with.

A scrawny five-year old who wore weird striped shirts and goggles everyday and constantly played his Gameboy with a fervor Mello had never seen before. The boy hadn't said a word when Roger introduced Matt to Mello. Matt had just nodded at Mello, who had managed to say the name so new to him. Mello. Every child at Wammy's was given a new name when they arrived, in part so they could forget their original identity, and mostly because they were all being groomed to be detectives, so their old identity was no longer needed.

In fact, Matt had hardly said a word to his blonde roommate for weeks. Mello intimidated the younger boy, and Matt, who had just arrived at Wammy's himself, was still terrified of everyone around him. As Mello would come to find out, he had a right to be.

The first words Matt ever spoke to Mello came about six months after Mello had come to Wammy's. Personally, Mello had little interest in making friends, but his roommate intrigued him, and he wanted to know more about the boy in the goggles. After lessons on that day, Mello had come back to their room to find Matt playing his Gameboy, and Mello took a chance and settled next to him on the floor.

Matt had looked at him, terrified, but Mello just stared at the Gameboy and asked, "Whatcha playing, Matt?"

Matt had stared at him for a long time before answering, rather timidly, "Pokèmon."

"What's Pokèmon?" Mello asked.

And for the next hour and a half, Matt had explained in great detail to him the complexities of the game. By the end, Mello could name two dozen Pokèmon and all their strengths and weaknesses. At first, Mello thought he would die of boredom, but after awhile, Mello just listened to Matt's voice. Matt had a very soothing voice, and ten years later, Mello still thought it was the most comforting sound in the world.

From then on, Matt and Mello were best friends.

To Roger, the caretaker of the children at Wammy's, and to the rest of the staff, Mello and Matt did indeed embody the term "double trouble." Mello was very obviously the leader, but he was nothing without his second-in-command, Matt. Together, they functioned perfectly as a team, and it would continue that way as they got older. They synchronized flawlessly on everything.

From then on, there were never referred to as Mello AND Matt. It was always MelloandMatt. They were always together, so people always grouped them together, although most agreed they couldn't have been an odder pair. Mello was anything but mellow, and he had a fondness for leather, chocolate, and torturing people, while Matt was so very laid back, wore some of the oddest clothes people had ever seen, and really never bothered anybody else.

But that may have just been why it worked out so well.

Now, though, as Mello stood there, looking at Matt, all buddy-buddy with Near, he couldn't help but feel some jealousy. Matt had been his one and only friend, through it all...

Near's head suddenly jerked up to see Mello standing by the doorframe. His eyes widened. Nothing good ever came out of a confrontation with Mello.

Matt suddenly felt eyes boring into the back of his head, and he paused the game before turning around. It took him a moment to realize it was dark, which must have meant that he had been playing for a long time. Matt had just taken a little detour on his way to get Mello's chocolate, and now, probably several hours later, he hadn't made it back. Shit.

"Oh, hey, Mel," Matt greeted his obviously angry best friend. "What's up?"

"You've been gone for six hours. I wondered if you had gotten lost or something," Mello said, sarcasm dripping from every word

"Uh...no, I just...I was playing, and...Near wanted to see..." Oh, shit, Matt realized. Not only had he been caught with no chocolate, but he had been caught with Near, too. Mello's version of the antichrist.

Matt abruptly jumped up from next to Near as though the younger boy had the plague, and went to stand next to Mello.

"Sorry, Mel," Matt said, ignoring the younger boy entirely. "I got distracted. You know, Roger said I probably have ADHD or whatever."

Mello rolled his eyes. "No, you just can't concentrate on anything but a videogame for longer than three seconds. That's called stupid, not ADHD."

Matt hung his head low. "Sorry, Mel."

"You know, I don't even know why I bother to keep you around," Mello said, letting out an exasperated sigh before grabbing Matt's sleeve. "C'mon, we have work to do."

But of course Mello knew why he kept Matt around. Because for all of his childishness and forgetfulness and immaturity, he was Mello's best friend.

Always had been.

And, as Mello considered, dragging Matt down the hallway, always would be.

* * *

When Mello and Matt got back to their room, Mello flopped gracefully back on his bed, somehow not disturbing the notes still covering his bed like a blanket. Mello pulled his textbook back out, already reading it. Him and Mello had finally gotten some chocolate, so Mello was happily munching on a bar. Maybe that would keep Mello's bitchiness at bay.

But probably not.

Matt looked sort of exasperated at his best friend before sighing heavily. "Why does it bother you if I hang out with Near?"

Mello didn't even give Matt one of his beautiful blue-eyed gazes as he continued to stare down at his work. "Because Near's a...well, you know..."

"No, I don't. The only problem you have with him is that he beats you in grades. But he's a really nice kid, Mel..."

Mello's book suddenly closed with a crisp snap. His gaze, sharp and cruel, rested on Matt. He slowly got up to stand right in front of his obviously clueless best friend.

"I just don't like you hanging out with him," Mello said, trying to keep his anger in check. It wasn't Matt's fault he was totally clueless.

"But why...?"

Before Mello could stop himself, he blurted out, "Because you're _mine_, that's why!"

A thick, almost palpable silence seemed to blanket the room. Matt just stared at Mello, and Mello was simply too stubborn to not look back at Matt.

"I didn't mean...I mean, I just meant..." Mello tried to fumble his way out of this. Of course, he didn't mean that in any other way than in a friend way, but Matt may take it the wrong way.

"I just meant that he's just trying to steal you away because he hates me," Mello managed to get out after another minute of awkward silence. "He's using you."

"I'll decided who is and isn't using me, Mello," Matt said in a surprisingly icy tone. "And until you decide what your stance is, I'll let Near use me all he wants!" Matt was so impressed with himself as he strode towards the door (cherished DS safely in his pocket), slamming it behind him.

Let's see what Mello did with _that. _

**A/N: For some reason, I can picture Matt's favorite game being Pokemon (I mean, doesn't it fit?!), so that's why I keep mentioning it. Plus, more is explained in the next chapter. Also...all the videogames I've mentioned (Kingdom Hearts and The World Ends With You) are all my favorites. If you haven't played either, you should...plus, if you love yaoi, AxelxRoxas make for some good stuff...  
**

**Thanks for reading, and reviews make me soooo happy, so please do! :)**

**Also, thanks to everyone who favorited my story. That sort of made my day...  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, everyone. :) I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving...I know I did. I ate wayyyy too much, and now, I have to go work all day. ugh. **

**ANYWAY. Thanks to those who reviewed. It means so much to me, you have no idea! **

**So, here the next one. It's a little longer than all my other ones, but...I think (hope) that you'll like it! **

**And once again, thanks again to tenspeed457 for being my beta!  
**

Chapter Four

Mello wasn't sure how long he was there, staring at the closed door.

All he could do was stand there, his mouth hanging open, his eyes wide in shock.

What the _fuck_ had Matt meant by that statement?

_Okay, Mello, take a deep breath_, Mello kept repeating to himself. Surely, Matt knew that statement would just bother him. Right?

But _seriously_. What did he mean by "use?" Usually, "using" somebody had a negative connotation, but by the smug look on Matt's face when he had said it, it must have a much more positive meaning to him. And did he mean "use" in a "friend" way? Or something more?

Mello wanted nothing more than to be able to go find Matt, sit on him, and torture the confession out of him, even if he had to dangle spit above him like he had done when they were younger.

Instead, Mello just stood there, still frozen. It had never occurred to Mello that Matt may have actually led a love life without him knowing, and for some reason, the thought upset him more than it should have. Once again, Mello was reminded by how much he took his best friend for granted, how often he ignored Matt as Matt babbled on about some new game. Maybe in all that time Mello had ignored him, Matt _had_ told him that he was involved, and he'd just not heard.

Or not wanted to hear.

And wait. _If_ Matt was with Near, that meant Matt was gay, right? They had never talked about each other's sexual orientation, mostly because Mello could only imagine the awkwardness of that conversation:

"Hey, Matt, are you gay or what?"

"Uh...just let me finish the level." After a minute, DS would be switched off. "Now what did you ask?"

Yeah, that would have gone really well. Besides, Mello had no reason to suspect he was gay. Matt looked like an average teenaged boy. Okay, that was a total lie. He couldn't look like an average teenaged male in his striped shirts, vests, and goggles. It just didn't work that way. BUT there was certainly no doubt how purely male Matt was.

Unlike Mello. Mello knew he had an androgynous face. And, well, he looked like his mother, so what did people expect? And looking like his mother was definitely something he _did not_ mind. Mello knew people had been suspecting he was gay since he was little, and Mello had never really cared, simply because he had never felt any sort of romantic love for either gender, so it really didn't matter either way.

For the next few weeks, Mello and Matt said the barest minimum of words to each other. It killed Mello that he couldn't ask Matt what he had meant, but he would be _damned_ if he broke first, especially after he saw Matt sitting with that bastard Near at meals. Whenever Mello saw that, he felt sick to his stomach, because he was sure that Matt was babbling about something completely unimportant to Near and not him.

Mello knew there was something weird going on inside of him. He didn't know what the _fuck_ it was, but it needed to stop. All he knew was that he felt confused constantly, and he knew that confusion had everything to do with his best friend.

One night, after Mello thought his head was going to explode from the tension in his and Matt's room while he and Matt studied, he grabbed his coat and made his way out of Wammy's.

It was dark, and oftentimes, Mello would go out during the night and just _think_. He couldn't really do that inside Wammy's, not with all the craziness of not only genius kids, but a lot of times _mentally disturbed _genius kids, too, so he never got any real peace and quiet inside that place. Instead, he had to find solace in a little grove beside a stream that ran right beside Wammy's. It was out of sight, and as far as Mello knew, no one else knew about it, so he wouldn't be interrupted.

Mello got to the grove quickly, and he practically collapsed on the ground. He lay there for awhile, looking up at the bright twinkling stars. He had a sudden flashback of him and his mother doing the same, especially when the news predicted shooting stars or a meteor. On those nights, Mello's mother would let him stay up late and stare up at the stars. "Make a wish!" she would whisper, and Mello would shut his eyes tight, and wish with all his might for the same thing every time: that his mother and he could stay in the little house by the water, and that his father would come back.

What a waste both of those wishes were. His mother had been killed, and his father had taken off when Mello had been three, and hadn't come back. Mello's mother had told him that he had "taken a vacation," and for many years, Mello just assumed that all grown-ups took long vacations like that until he started school, and found out all the other kids' parents didn't go away.

Mello shook his head to rid himself of the memories. Still, after ten years, it hurt to think about his mother, and as far as Mello was concerned, he had another problem to agonize over. That "problem's" name was Matt.

However, Mello was saved from the torture by the sound of snapping twigs. Mello got up quickly and searched for the intruder. His eyes finally landed on a familiar sight of a lanky boy in a striped shirt and goggles, but vestless.

"Matt. What are you doing here?" Mello asked sharply. This was _his_ place, damn it.

Matt shrugged. "I figured you'd be out here."

"How'd you find this place?" Mello demanded.

"You showed it to me, remember?"

Fuck. Of course he had. Mello and Matt told each other _everything_. Or he thought they had... now, he wasn't too sure.

"Well, go away. This is _my _place," Mello grumbled, turning his back on his best friend.

Matt exhaled deeply. "You know, Mel, you're going to have to get over these possessiveness issues you've been having."

Mello gritted his teeth in frustration. Leave it to Matt. Seriously. "You know, I'm sort of mad at you right now, so if you could fuck off that would be just bloody fantastic."

"Why are you mad at me? Because I've been hanging with Near? So the fuck what, Mello? It's no big deal."

Mello had been pretty impressed with himself up to this the point, that he hadn't tackled Matt and strangled him with his bare hands, but now he whipped around, and got as close to Matt as he could without actually touching him. He hadn't meant to ask yet, but he couldn't stand it any longer. "What did you mean by you'd let Near 'use' you?"

Matt had to bit his lip to keep from smirking. Bullseye. He knew that would bother Mello. "Why, Mel, what do you think I meant?"

"I don't know! I don't know what goes through Near's sick mind. Or yours."

Matt rolled his eyes. "Yeah. A little thirteen-year old, antisocial, autistic kid is going to have a sick mind. Yeah. Whatever, Mel."

"Fine. You didn't discount yours, though," Mello shot back.

Matt averted his eyes. He hadn't, because that would be a lie. He was dirty...he had been told that multiple times before.

"Well..."

"Aha!" Mello interrupted. "So Matty has a dirty mind, huh? Who are you daydreaming about, Near?" Mello smirked smugly. He had Matt _exactly_ where he wanted him. Never mind that Mello had had a few...accidental nighttime...dreams...about what he could be doing to his best friend...

But fuck. He had been _asleep_. He couldn't be responsible for that!

"Fuck you," Matt countered, sort of halfheartedly. He couldn't argue too much, because Mello would start to question him, and that was the last thing he wanted. The last time Mello had asked a personal question and badgered Matt for an answer, Matt had hauled Mello outside and gave him a black eye, all for asking why he hadn't talked for the first six months that he'd been there.

Mello laughed. "Good comeback, Matt. Really. Just...top-notch."

"Fuck you!" Matt said, this time with a little more venom. He turned to go back to Wammy's when Mello grabbed his arm.

"What?" Matt asked, yanking his arm out of Mello's grasp.

Mello swallowed, hard. He didn't know what had made him grab Matt's arm. Maybe...maybe it had been because Mello had like him and Matt being together, in this special place. Mello didn't mind sharing it with Matt, not really.

"Uh...well, I just wanted to say I'm sorry about breaking your Playstation. I'll tell Roger it was my fault, and he'll get you a new one."

Matt just stared Mello. Not in all the time he had known his best friend, not _once_, had he ever apologized to Matt. Usually, if they got in a fight, Mello would just say something along the lines of, "If you're done being a retard, I won't fight with you anymore." And that was as close to an apology as he got.

"Oh. Well, thanks." Matt paused, waiting for Mello to say something else, but when he didn't, he said, "Okay. Well, I'm going back now. See you later."

"Yeah, okay," Mello said, as Matt turned away to back to Wammy's. He was too distracted to say anything else.

Because he had just had a revelation, as he had been fighting with Matt. It all made sense now; his possessiveness over Matt, the weird, upset stomachs he'd get whenever he was around him...

He was completely in love with Matt.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, _**fuck!**_

_

* * *

_

Mello had always sworn to himself up and down that he wasn't going to fall in love. **Ever**. His mother had, with his father, and what had she got? Him? Yeah, well, even though Mello's mother always told him what a blessing he was, he knew her life would be so much easier without him. Besides, Mello had a reputation to keep, and he couldn't be spending time following after someone like a little lost puppy, answering to their every whim. He had things to do, damn it! He _had_ to beat Near, he _had_ to become L's successor. Those weren't things he _hoped_ to do, those were things he was _going_ to do.

And falling in love was NOT in those plans. Not at all.

Mello followed Matt back into Wammy's a short time later. When he got to his room, he saw that Matt was already sound asleep, his DS still shining brightly, and the theme song from Pokemon blasting loudly. Mello reached over and turned off the DS, knowing Matt would have been annoyed come morning when his DS was dead. Mello stared at his best friend for a moment. Matt looked so peaceful in his sleep, as though he had no problems in the world. Without even thinking, Mello gently moved a strand of hair out of his eyes, letting his hand linger there. When Matt stirred, Mello pulled his hand back like he had burned it on the stove. Jesus. What was he thinking? What if Matt had woken up? And besides that...this _stupid _feeling...love...well, that just wasn't going to work.

Mello backed away and reached towards his end table, grabbing a bar of chocolate. As far as Mello was concerned, chocolate _always_ made everything better.

Hopefully, it would do the job this time, too.

* * *

Mello woke up early the next morning. He noticed right away that Matt wasn't in bed, and that was unusual. It was a Saturday, and that meant Matt would sleep in extremely late. He was not an early bird by any means. He quickly dressed, and made his way down to get some breakfast, hopefully running into Matt.

It had been more than three weeks since they had had a real conversation, and not fought, and Mello was going to break down and apologize. He _needed_ to talk to Matt, and if an apology was what it took, then so be it.

But when he got to the cafeteria, he scanned the room to see that his auburn-haired best friend was not amongst those happily chattering away over their breakfast. Mello sighed and thew out his chocolate muffin. He didn't feel so hungry anymore.

Finally, after carefully combing the whole building, he broke down and made his way to Roger's office. Roger was one of the caretakers at Wammy's, and he didn't annoy Mello _quite_ as much as the other staffers did. He knocked, and Roger let out a weary, "Come in."

Roger had to stop himself from sighing in exasperation when he saw the boy. In trouble again, were we?

But before he could ask what trouble he had managed to get himself into this time, he noticed that a certain google-wearing boy wasn't beside him.

That was cause for concern.

"Where's Matt?" Roger asked.

"I was going to ask you the same thing. He's not anywhere."

"I'm sure he's out on the grounds," Roger said. He wondered if the two had gotten in a fight. God knows that he had pulled apart those two from more than a few physical fights. Even though 99.9% of the time, Matt followed Mello's lead, every once in awhile he wouldn't, and a terrible fight would ensue.

Matt was more of a fighter than anyone would have guessed.

"Okay..." Mello said, certainly unsatisfied by the answer. "Thanks."

"He probably got distracted," Roger said. Matt had some of the worse ADD he had ever seen. The only thing he concentrated on for more than two seconds was his videogames.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks." Mello turned to leave, when he remembered something.

"Oh, hey, Roger, I broke Matt's Playstation, not him, so maybe can you get him another one?"

Roger just sighed. Somehow, he didn't think the Playstation was broken because Mello had dropped it. The blonde boy had been a handful from the second he had entered Wammy's.

"I'll work on it," Roger said, watching as Mello left the room.

Mello was relieved when, two hours later, he found Matt behind an old tool shed on the grounds, hunched over his DS. Matt had just wanted to get out, and had found this secluded place.

"Hey, I was looking all over for you," Mello said as a greeting. "What are you doing back here?"

"Trying to avoid people, obviously," Matt answered dryly.

"Oh, right. Well, I told Roger about your Playstation. He said he'd work on it."

"Thanks."

Mello could feel his anger rising. Why was Matt being so hostile? He said he was going to get Roger to get him another Playstation, and he had! So what the fuck was wrong?

"Come on, Matt, stop being such a bastard, and let's go back inside."

Matt didn't say anything, as he continued to concentrate on his game. He was going to ignore Mello if it killed him. He was still more than a little annoyed over Mello's sudden possessiveness over him, and he had woken up that morning even _more_ annoyed, and that had put Matt in a terrible mood.

Suddenly, Mello came up to him and grabbed the DS from Matt's hand.

"Mel...wh-" his heart sank.

Matt breathed a sigh of relief when he just saw Mello turn it off and tuck it in his pocket instead of throwing it against the tool shed wall or something. Matt stood up so that he could be on the same level (or almost the same level, he was a little shorter) as Mello.

"What the _fuck_ is your problem, Mel? Jesus. Not get your chocolate or something?" Matt asked, irritated.

Matt was shocked when, without warning, Mello slammed him against the wall of the tool shed. Matt didn't move a muscle as his best friend moved so that he was extremely close to him. He would never admit it, but Mello kind of scared him when he got like this. For some reason, though, he was almost... _addicted_ to the fear, and would sometimes provoke his hot-tempered friend on purpose. Mello was so close that Matt could see every detail about his face. The few very faint freckles that were almost invisible, his pale eyelashes that, upon further inspection, were actually very long and thick, the lighter blue specks in his eyes that mixed with the azure... Matt didn't want to move, as he feared that Mello would, and he liked Mello being that close to him.

"You know what my _problem _is, Matt?" Mello asked. Oh, was Mello going to tell him. How he had practically ignored Mello for these past few weeks, and how he had become _just _a little too friendly with Near..."My problem, you stupid idiot, is that I love you."

Fuck. Oh, _fuck. _Where the fuck had _that_ come from? _Did I just say that out loud_? Mello thought to himself. He hadn't even mulled these feeling over for more than twenty-four hours, and he had just told him! What the hell?

But honestly, Mello knew that although he had just admitted those feelings to himself, he had felt them for years.

Matt's eyes widened. He didn't looked repulsed or annoyed, like Mello thought he might. Instead, he just looked confused.

"I..I don't...Mel..." Matt struggled for the right words. How could he explain without hurting Mello? He really didn't think there was a way.

"And you know what else?" Mello continued, interrupting Matt. "I absolutely hate this feeling. Love sucks. I don't see what the big fucking deal is. I feel more sick than anything. I mean, seriously, it feels like my stomach's in knots...."

"Mel...I mean...well, thanks, but..."

"_Thanks_? I say I love you and you say _thanks_?" Mello asked incredulously. So fucking typical Matt.

"Well, what I mean is that...I appreciate that you feel that way, but you can't love me."

Mello took a step back, shocked by Matt's blatant tone. "Wh-what? Why?"

"Because you can't," Matt answered simply.

Mello had to take a few breaths to compose himself. "Do you have _any_ idea how hard it was for me to admit that? And you can't even give me a fucking answer? Don't fucking tell me that I 'can't love you.' Maybe you think I can't, but I do!" he was getting _really_ pissed now.

Matt didn't know what to say. How could he corrupt something as beautiful as Mello with something as dirty, as _tainted_ as him? Matt remembered the constant insults, the large, sweaty hands that always came for him, the... the pain. Oh yes, always the pain.

"I'm sorry, Mel," Matt finally said softly. Even though all he wanted to do was throw his arms around Mello, and profess his undying love, he knew he couldn't do that. "I'm so sorry."

"Just...shut up," Mello demanded. He took a deep breath. He was just going to have explain all this to the moron. "Matt, I've loved you since you explained Pokemon to me the first time you ever talked to me, And not in a "friend" way. I need you. That's why I got so possessive of you with Near. He was trying to take you away from me, and I couldn't handle it. Do I have to fucking spell it out for you anymore than that?"

"N-No, but..."

Matt's argument was cut off by the presence of Mello's lips on his. Mello tasted exactly as Matt thought he would: sweet, like chocolate. Matt wanted to sink into the kiss, let Mello just sweep him away, but he couldn't, not when....

Mello pulled away for a second to say, "Kiss me, you idiot. Do I have to explain everything to you?"

And Matt just surrendered. He certainly wasn't good enough for Mello, but just this kiss, just this one chance to _show_ Mello what he felt couldn't hurt, could it?

Mello began to slide Matt's goggles down, breaking the kiss long enough so he could push them down so they were hanging around Matt's neck. Matt's hands were busy entwining themselves in Mello's hair, pulling him closer, as close as he could get, but still not close enough...

The two were interrupted when they heard someone politely clear their throat. They broke apart quickly to see Near standing there, a pink tinge to his cheeks.

"Uh, s-sorry, b-but Roger wants everybody back..."

How the _fuck _had Near found them? That little voyeur...

"Okay," Matt said, maneuvering so he was away from Mello. Mello sighed. Who knew how long it was going to be until they had that opportunity again.

But all of Mello's worries took a back seat when he saw a familiar car parked in the drive of Wammy's.

Nothing mattered anymore.

Because L was back.

**So...I hope everyone enjoyed that! I know I enjoyed writing it. I mean, who doesn't love a little MelloxMatt? I promise there will definitely be more (I mean, this has a M rating for more than just language!), and I also promise there's some sort of plot, too.**

**So, please, review. That would be awesome and sort of makes my day! Thanks for reading!  
**


	5. Chapter 5

Hey, all!

Wow....sorry this has taken so terribly long. I had exams, and then Christmas, and all that good stuff, so time just sort of got away from me. But then again, if you know me, you know that happens quite often...

Also. I mention PART of Mello's real name in here. Most of you probably know it anyway, but I thought I'd warn you just in case...

And....this is YAOI. So. If you do not care for yaoi, then please don't read!

As a broke college student, I don't own much at all, most especially Death Note (sadly).

And thanks so much to tenspeed457 for being my beta.

Enjoy. :)

Chapter four

Wammy's was an entirely different place when L was around.

Everyone knew L. Well, didn't know him _personally_, but knew _of_ him. He was sort of like royalty to the children at Wammy's, and they worshipped him as though he were. L was everything every child at Wammy's aspired to be. From the moment they entered Wammy's, their entire purpose was to be the next L.

L didn't come to visit too often. Both Mello and Matt had no idea why, but they imagined he was too busy being a top detective, solving the world's crimes with ease. They would have never guessed it was because he hated any sort of social situation at all, even if it involved a bunch of kids who strove to be exactly like him. Like all the other kids, Mello and Matt had never met L, so they had no idea what the world-famous detective was even like. But while Matt could really care less, Mello wanted to know him. He wanted to be L's twin, wanted to know everything about him, so he could be exactly like him.

Once Near, Mello, and Matt had made it back to Wammy's (after an awkward walk), Near led them into the cafeteria, which also doubled as a meeting space when Watari had to make a big announcement. Everyone was already buzzing with excitement; if L was here, it had to be because of something big.

Much to Mello's annoyance, Near came to sit next to him and Matt at one of the empty tables, but before Mello could tell Near to fuck off, Watari cleared his throat, directing the three boys' attention to the front of the cafeteria. Everyone silenced instantly, which was a rare occurrence. Usually, if Watari was trying to make an announcement, it would take more than a few minutes to calm everyone down. Now, the silence that blanketed the room was heavy.

"Now, as many of you may know, L has come to stay with us for a few days." Watari had to pause, since the excited buzz had started up again. He only had to clear his throat once, however, to get silence again. "You all are to stay out of his way, and to go about your routines as normal. Any, and I mean _any_, disruption to L will be cause for severe discipline." Watari now smiled warmly. "Now, off you go, except Mello, Matt, and Near. If you three could join me up here..."

Mello quickly jumped up, while Matt and Near both took their time, Matt from laziness and Near from just plain boredom. Watari had already told him what was going to happen, so it wasn't like any of this was surprise.

"I need you three to come with me," Watari said when the three of them finally managed to fight their way to the front. They had had to go against the current, and it was no small task for the three boys to go in the opposite direction of 150 kids.

Watari led them to the east side of Wammy's, where the staff and other administrative offices were located. All three had seen their fair share of this side; Near because he was #1, and Mello and Matt because that's where a child was sent when they got into trouble.

And God knows Matt and Mello had gotten into more than enough trouble.

Finally, Watari stopped at one of the rooms, opening the door so that they could go in. All that was inside the room was a large table with several seats encircling it. Nothing too remarkable about the room, except...

Except sitting at the head of the table was a lanky teenager, crouching in the chair, his legs under him. He had raven black hair, which hung into his eyes. Like his hair, his eyes were of the darkest color, and were rimmed by dark shadows. Obviously, whoever this was didn't sleep a whole lot. He just wore a simple white shirt and jeans, and his feet were bare.

"Mello, Matt, this is L. L, you know about Mello and Matt."

Mello started a little bit. _This_ was L? This very non-threatening, slightly anorexic teenager, who looked like he hadn't slept in weeks? Mello had always imagined L as...well, someone strong, big, and imposing. This L was the exact opposite.

Mello was startled out of his reverie by a nudge to his ribs by Matt. "Uh, hi..." Mello said after a minute.

Brilliant, Mello, just brilliant.

L just nodded at him. Near had already taken a seat at the table, and was looking bemusedly at Mello. Mello just glared at him. Smug little bastard.

"You two could sit down," Watari suggested after a moment to Matt and Mello. They both followed his advice, sitting on the opposite side from Near.

"Now, the reason we brought you here, Matt and Mello, is that we need your help," L said after a moment. "I have a case I think you two could help me out on. Near and I have talked and agreed we can't do it by ourselves."

Mello's breath caught in his throat. That meant...that meant Near had _talked_ to L already, had already had contact with him. His breathing suddenly became very constricted. Before now, he had always felt like maybe he had a chance of beating Near, but now....Near had already been working with L. Mello had never even _met_ him before today.

"Mello, are you okay?" Mello jerked himself out of his thoughts. Matt was looking at him, concerned, a hand on his arm.

"Ye-yeah. Sorry." Mello turned back to L, but not before throwing Near the most scathing look he could muster.

"Would you two be willing to help us?" L asked, glancing at Mello and Matt.

"Yes!" Mello answered instantaneously, while Matt just sort of gave a lazy "yeah, sure."

"Good." L grabbed a folder that was sitting in front of him. "I've already briefed Near, so I'll just give you two a quick background." He took some papers out of the folder. "For awhile, we have been monitoring a string of particularly brutal murders, fifty-six total which seem to exhibit very similar characteristics."

"Fifty-six?" Mello repeated. "That's...wow. How were they murdered?"

"It varies, but most were brutally slashed in the throat, or bludgeoned to death. In both cases, there should have been an exorbitant amount of blood, but in all cases, the victims were drained of blood."

"He knows what he's doing," piped up Near. "It's rather difficult to drain a body completely of blood, with as little difficulty as he had."

L nodded in agreement, and Mello could feel the anger boiling that _he_ couldn't have thought of that conclusion. "I completely agree."

"Do you have any leads?" Mello asked, attempting to not let his anger show through.

"In fact, we have one." L pulled out some more papers from the folder. "We got a tip several days ago about this man from an anonymous source. Apparently, he spent time in prison for a murder when he was in his twenties but was released a few years early due to good behavior. He then seemed to do a complete turnaround, and he went to medical school and became a surgeon."

"That would explain how he knew how to drain blood," Mello concluded.

L nodded. "Yes, it would. I haven't been able to locate the man. His name is Luka Keehl, and he's..."

"Wa-wait. What did you say his name was?" Mello interrupted L. Surely, he had heard wrong.

"Luka Keehl," L repeated.

Mello's heart stopped. No. No, this couldn't be true. He had to be dreaming. _Had_ to be.

L studied Mello's face, noticing the range of the emotions that played across it. Fear, loathing, confusion, all in a matter of seconds. L couldn't even begin to understand how someone could feel that much at once, but then again, L didn't really understand how anyone felt any emotion _at all_.

"Mello, what's wrong?" Watari asked, noticing the blond boy's facial expressions.

"I know him," Mello said quietly after a moment.

L's eyebrows disappeared under his bangs. "What? Who is he, Mello?"

Mello sighed, looking L straight in the eye for the first time. "Luka Keehl is my father."

* * *

L just sort of stared at Mello for a moment. He was completely still, not even moving to tackle the giant piece of raspberry cheesecake that Watari had just recently set in front of him.

Watari was the one to break the silence. "Your father, Mello? I was under the impression that both of your parents were deceased."

"My mother is, but my father...he was never around or anything. I had no idea if he was even still alive," Mello explained, both his face and voice uncharacteristically devoid of emotion. "But apparently, he is."

Watari glanced at L, who now was calmly eating his cheesecake, as though this huge secret had not just been revealed.

"L?" Watari prompted.

L said nothing as he finally looked up at Mello, who was squirming in his seat uncomfortably.

"I think we should conclude our little meeting," L said quietly after a moment, immediately going back to his cheesecake.

Mello's gaze jerked up from the floor to meet L's. Had he done something wrong? It wasn't his fault this man was his father!

"L?" Watari questioned, his confusion obvious as well.

"We'll meet again," L said, ignoring Watari. "Go ahead and go back to your rooms."

Mello got up slowly, and was glad when Matt grabbed his arm to lead him out. His mind was so clouded over with confusion he needed some guidance.

"Oh, and Mello?" L's voice stopped him just as he was about to exit.

"Yes?" Mello turned around to face him.

"Are you sure you don't have any contact with your father?"

Mello nodded slowly. "Yeah."

"Good. Make sure it stays that way."

Before Mello could respond, Watari shut the door of the room behind them with a sharp snap, leaving Matt and Mello out in the hallway, vastly more confused now than when they had entered.

* * *

Mello and Matt went back to their room in silence. Mello collapsed face down on his bed. Matt didn't know what to do, so he just went to sit on own bed.

Finally, after a few minutes of silence, Matt started, "Mel--"

"I don't want to talk about it," Mello said, his voice muffled by his sheets and pillows.

"But Mel--" Matt tried again.

"No. I--just...I don't want to deal with this right now, Matt."

Matt was a little taken aback. Mello sounded so weary, so tired. Matt had never heard Mello sound tired. Mello seemingly didn't need sleep.

"Okay." Matt bit his lip, a bad habit of his when he was unsure of what to do next, or was just plain nervous. "So...your last name is Keehl?"

Mello grimaced to himself. No one, _no one_, was supposed to know their real name. "Yeah."

"What's your first name?" Matt asked.

"You know I can't tell you that," Mello said, finally dragging himself up. He reached over to his endtable, and grabbed a chocolate bar from the pile, ripping the wrapping open with his teeth. "You know too much of it already. I should have never said anything in the first place."

"Uh, Mel, the fact that the suspect is your father is sort of a major detail," Matt said logically.

"Yeah, well..."

"I'll tell you my real name," Matt interrupted him.

"And why the _fuck_ would you do that?" Mello asked incredulously. "_No one_ is supposed to know, Matt."

"I trust you," Matt said simply. He came to sit next to Mello.

Mello was so thrown off guard he said the first thing that came to mind. "No, you don't, or you'd tell me about what happened before you came here."

Mello could see Matt's face close off completely, his face wipe itself of emotion.

"Mel, I....there's nothing to tell," Matt said after a moment. He knew he had to try and get himself out of this. He couldn't tell Mello. He just _couldn't_.

"I'm not stupid, Matt. I know something happened."

"Let's just not talk about this, okay? We have the case, which involves your father..."

"I don't give a fuck about my father!" Mello said loudly. "I care about you!"

"Well, stop then, because I'm not going to tell you!"

Mello took a deep breath, and shocked them both by taking Matt's hand. "Who hurt you, Matt? You can tell me," he whispered.

Matt sighed. It hurt so much to hold all this inside. Sometimes, it felt like he was going to burst open from all the pain, all the anguish that resided deep inside of him. He looked at Mello, into his beautiful blue eyes. He knew that he could trust Mello, and he also knew that deep down, Mello would never abandon him because of what happened to him. In fact, he would probably go and hunt the men down because that's what...well, that's what Mello did. When Mello hunted people down, they were never seen again.

Matt waged a battle within himself for a few minutes, before finally deciding on a course of action.

"I don't know who they are, really," Matt said after a few minutes of silence. "Not really, but..." Matt struggled to find the right words to explain this to Mello. "Well, you know...my parents, they put me in an orphanage when I was a baby. I got adopted out when I was around six. I don't really remember anything up until I was six, but I don't think it was bad or anything."

Mello waited patiently for Matt to continue. He knew this was hard for his usually reserved best friend. Or boyfriend. Or whatever he was. _God, what was he....?_

Mello was stirred out of his inner debate on what _exactly _what Matt was by Matt suddenly starting up his story again.

"But anyway, I got adopted by a couple in their forties, who said they wanted nothing more out of life than to raise children, but that they couldn't have any. At first, it was fun, because they lived in a neighborhood with a lot of children..." Matt broke off, fondly remembering those eight or so months before everything had gone to hell...days filled with water ballon fights, climbing trees, and games of basketball."But, then, when I turned seven..." Matt trailed off, suddenly very interested at tearing up the grass.

"What happened when you turned seven, Matt?" Mello gently prodded, trying not to sound impatient.

It took Matt awhile to answer. "I...well, one day, they took me to Chicago, which we lived pretty near. I was so excited to go, even though we were only going to visit some of their friends. We ended up going to this house in the middle of this really rundown neighborhood. When we got there..." Matt swallowed hard, and closed his eyes. For some reason, it was better to tell Mello with his eyes closed. "They separated us. They put me in this room, and at first, I didn't think much of it, until some strange man came in, and locked the door behind him. And..." Matt took a shaky breath, but try as he might, he couldn't get the next words out.

"It's okay, Matt. Really. You can tell me..."

Matt finally opened his eyes, and Mello was surprised to see that instead of the pain and suffering that he had been expecting, his eyes instead showed emptiness. "And that was the first time my parents made a whore of me." He said it so matter-of-factly.

Mello felt like he had stopped breathing. He hadn't expected that, even though it wasn't that hard to guess from what Matt had told him before. And really, he still couldn't believe it, believe that someone could do that to their own _child_. It was...incomprehensible, in Mello's mind. His mother had always said her main goal in life was to protect him, and here Matt's parents had done the exact opposite. They had let him be hurt by a pervert, let their seven-year old be abused and subsequently scarred forever. Not even noticing it, Mello's fists clenched.

Mello had to take a few deep breaths before he could speak. He knew if he had spoken right after hearing it, he would sound angry, and he knew Matt's insecurities would twist himself into thinking that he was mad at _him_, instead of furious at the man and woman who had done this to him.

Finally, Mello unclenched his fists and turned back towards Matt, who was sitting there, that empty, calm look still on his face.

"Matt..." Mello was absolutely terrible at emotional stuff, but he forced himself to gentle his voice as much as possible, to try and comfort Matt in anyway he could. "I...I am so sorry that happened to you. That's...unspeakable."

Matt smiled weakly. "I thought you would go and threaten to kill them or something. This is a much calmer reaction that what I had expected." Although Matt didn't say it, he had kind of _wanted_ to see Mello angry about it, wanted to see the murderous look in Mello's eyes.

Mello let out a short laugh. "I want to. That's why I didn't say anything for a few minutes, because I want to literally go and kill them both. Jesus."

"That's the Mello I'm used to."

"I..." Mello knew he had to handle this right, or Matt would never confide in him again, and he wanted Matt to think he could. Sure, Mello put up this tough exterior to everyone else, but he didn't want to be that way with Matt, his gentle Matt. "What happened to you...it's terrible. Believe me, I want to track them down, tear off every appendage slowly, make them bleed to death..." Mello hesitated for a moment before going on. "None of what you told me changes anything, Matt."

Matt let out an incredulous laugh. "Yeah, it does, Mel. Didn't you hear me? I was a _whore._ And that didn't just happen once, it happened a million more times. I'm _dirty_."

Dirty? Mello didn't even know how he could jump to that conclusion. "Dirty? Matt, none of that..._none_ of it was your fault."

"Thanks, Mel." Matt didn't sound the least bit convinced, but he knew that if he didn't just let Mello think he had accepted it, Mello would keep them there until he thought Matt had, even if it took a week.

"Matt." Mello suddenly grabbed Matt's chin, turning his head so that he was forced to look into those blue eyes. "You are _not _dirty. You are..." Mello struggled to find the right words. "Matt, you are the best person I know. You went through so much and still have managed to be an amazing person."

There. Sure, Mello sucked at emotional shit, but he had tried his best, and hoped that it was good enough, that it conveyed to Matt how he really felt.

"Th-thanks." Matt was truly touched, and a little unnerved. He had never expected to hear this from Mello. Mello, the guy who showed zero emotion, except anger, and voiced nothing more than said anger.

Mello pulled Matt's face as close as he could, their lips just a breath away. "Matt. Don't ever let me hear you say you're a dirty person again, or I will be forced to punish you." Just as Matt thought Mello was going to kiss him, he hit him on the side of the head instead.

Matt winced. "Ouch, Mello, that hurt."

"Good." Mello smiled sardonically. "Let that be a reminder, Matt."

"Oh, believe me, Mel, how could I ever forget you?" Matt asked dryly.

And oh, how that was true, Mello reflected.

Because he would never let him.

* * *

Things changed. That much Mello could tell. Over the next few weeks, his and Matt's relationship changed drastically.

And fortunately, it was for the good.

Matt felt as though a huge weight had been lifted from his heart. He had bared all to Mello, and Mello had not only accepted it, but was willing to move forward in their relationship, whatever it may be. Matt felt like him and Mello now knew each other on an even deeper level, if that were possible. Now, Matt knew he could tell Mello anything.

Romantically....well, that was changing, too. Mello would wake him up in the morning with a kiss, and would do the same at night before they went to bed. Sometimes, too, when they were studying, Mello would come over to Matt's bed, and Matt would snuggle into him. Mello felt so good, so _warm_, and Matt really liked hearing his heartbeat, and smelling that intoxicating scent that was Mello. It often made it very, very difficult to study.

It had been about three weeks since their meeting with L. Mello was growing concerned; he so badly wanted a chance to help L with the case. Was he being punished simply because the man was his father? If anything, that made Mello want to capture him more, punish the man who had abandoned and hurt his beautiful mother.

After lessons one day, Mello, as usual made his way back to his and Matt's room. Matt was laying on his bed, an open book draped across his stomach. Matt looked so damn innocent in his sleep. Mello loved to watch him sleep...

Mello crept over to the bed, and leaned down so his face was mere centimeters from Matt's. After a moment's hesitation, he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Matt's forehead first, followed by Matt's lips.

Matt slowly opened his eyes, and Mello could see the confusion in Matt's eyes, even with the goggles on. That confusion, however, didn't stop Matt from kissing Mello back.

"Hey, Mel," Matt greeted Mel in between kisses with a smile.

"Whatever. Just kiss me," Mello demanded. He hated to admit it, but he needed a daily Matt fix now, and he hadn't had one today. Mello knew that this...addiction...to Matt was beginning to overtake even his chocolate one, and although he knew that should probably concern him a little bit, he couldn't find the room to care.

Mello slipped the goggles over Matt's head, throwing them aside, his lips barely leaving Matt's. Mello felt as though there was nothing in this entire world except Matt, that every fiber, every molecule, of his being consisted of the boy he was currently kissing as though he were his oxygen.

Mello slyly slipped his tongue in between Matt's lips, their tongues battling for dominance, which Mello quickly won.

Although not wanting to, Matt finally had to break the kiss; his lungs were screaming for oxygen. Matt laid back on the bed, breathing hard. Mello settled himself so he was next to Matt, struggling to clear his mind of the haze that had blanketed his thoughts.

"S-sorry. I had to breathe," Matt said after a minute.

Mello nodded agreeably. "Yeah, I was kind of forgetting to do that."

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to breathe again," Matt said, more to himself than Mello.

Mello was pleased to hear that. "Breathing really isn't that necessary, in my opinion." Matt was all sprawled out on the bed, his face flushed. Before Matt could say or do anything, Mello was straddling him, his lips already claiming Matt's once again.

Not like Matt would have stopped him or anything. Breathing...who needs it?

Mello's lips quickly left Matt's, trailing down his face until he reached his neck. Mello absentmindedly thought that Matt had a really, really nice neck. He placed a soft kiss where he could feel Matt's pulse jackhammering, and began to suck it softly.

Matt let out a soft groan and tangled his hands in Mello's blond tresses to pull him closer. He knew Mello would leave a mark, but right then...he cared about nothing except Mello.

"M-Mello," Matt finally managed to get out.

Mello ignored him. He was too busy on Matt's neck to answer. He smiled to himself. Matt thought he had possessive issues before? Well, he was going to show him possessive issues in the form of a medium-sized purplish mark beginning to form on his pale skin.

Suddenly, a sharp knock sounded on the door. Matt practically pushed Mello off the bed before answering, "Who is it?"

"It's Near. L wants to see us."

Mello was torn. He really, really wanted to help L, but he also really, really wanted to continue what he had started with Matt. He sighed, and turned to Mello, a devious smile on his face.

"What?" Matt asked.

"Oh, nothing." He placed a firm kiss on Matt's lips. "We'll continue this...later."

"Okay." Matt swallowed, hoping, really hoping they would. He reached over to retrieve his goggles, and then got up.

"Hey, Near," Matt greeted him, when him and Mello had exited their room.

"Hey." Near gave Matt a funny look. "What's that bruise on your neck?"

Matt's face flushed to about the darkest shade of red Mello had ever seen. "Oh. Uh. I'm not sure..."

"You should really be more careful, Matt," Near said. Matt could already tell he had thankfully accepted his explanation, and moved on. Thank God for Near's naivete.

"Yeah, don't worry. Next time I'll be much more careful. I'll be sure to leave your neck alone and put them...other places," Mello whispered in Matt's ear before starting after Near.

Matt let out a sigh.

God, he hoped Mello kept his promise.

* * *

Thanks for reading! I really hoped you liked it. Please review? It would really, really make my day. Whenever I see I get one, I get insanely happy...

For any that were wondering, I made Mello Slovenian, since his real name is Slovenian (at least, that's what I've managed to conclude from some of my research), so his father has a Slovenian name as well. Just seemed like a cool place to be from. :)

Also, I had L eat raspberry cheesecake in here because I had it over at my friend Alex's house, and it was so good. Mmmmmmmmmmm.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey. :)

First, thank you all to those who have reviewed. It makes my day, and makes me very happy...

Secondly, this chapter is a freaking beast, to put it plainly. I just got going, and...this is a result. But I felt if I cut it off, it would do it injustice. But if you stick around until the end, there's a surprise. :)

Okay, I'll tell you what it is, since I have to give a warning. There is a **LEMON** at the end. Which means some guy on guy action. If you don't like, then please don't read.

Sadly, I don't own Death Note, or the characters. Just the story. I just started a semester at college, so for those of you who go to college, you know how broke you are. So...can't buy it to own it...

* * *

Chapter 5

For the first time Mello's memory, he was a little annoyed at the thought of L. Usually, all he wanted to do was think about being L, thinking of ways to be like him, thinking of ways to finally be able to meet him. Now, he had a chance to meet with L to discuss a major case in which he had been asked to help with.

And all he could do _now_ was think of being back in his and Matt's bedroom, doing absolutely unspeakable things to his best friend. Boyfriend. Whatever the hell he was. Once again, Mello was reminded that he and Matt needed to define _exactly _what they were.

Watari was waiting for the three boys at the end of their hallway. He didn't say anything as he led them to the east side of the building. He stopped them before the exact same room as they had been the first time they had met with the famed detective.

"Wait here, please," Watari said sternly, as he slipped into the room, closing the door firmly behind him.

Watari came back out a minute or two later, and gestured for the boys to come in. He shut the door behind him as soon as Near, the last one in line had gotten in, almost ramming the albino in the process. The room was exactly the same as last time, with L sitting at the head of the table, crouched in his unusual position with a plate of chocolate cake in front of him. Mello couldn't help but gaze longingly at the chocolate mass on the plate, all smothered with chocolate icing...

"Please, take a seat," L said, licking his lips clear of frosting.

The boys followed his suggestion, sitting down. Mello had the slight, fleeting urge to just jump L and _take _the chocolate cake, but somehow, he didn't think that would go over very well with the detective.

"I apologize that it's been so long since our last meeting," L said after a few moments of uncomfortable silence. L didn't seem to understand the concept of silence being uncomfortable; he often let the conversation lag into minutes of silence, seemingly unaware of how awkward it made those people with whom he was speaking feel. "But I had a lead on the case that I had to follow up on, and consequently, investigate, because of the sensitive nature of the matter at hand."

"Sensitive nature?" Near asked softly.

L nodded. "Yes. I wanted to be at least 98% certain that all my information was correct before I broached the topic with you three." He took another huge bite of the cake, swallowing heavily before speaking again. "Mello," he said, turning towards the blond boy. "I had an anonymous tip that confirmed my suspicion that your father is indeed involved in the case, as I had originally thought."

Mello nodded, and he noticed that Matt moved a tiny bit closer to him in their chairs. He could feel Matt's eyes on him, but he didn't turn to look at his best friend; he just stared straight at L.

"Mello, did you ever...did anyone ever discuss with you the details of your mother's murder?" L asked.

Mello shook his head. "No. They just...they didn't know."

L sighed, and quickly glanced at Watari. _Exactly_ what he had been afraid of. "Mello," he said tentatively. "I believe...well, I'm about 85% sure...that your father was involved in your mother's murder. I believe that he killed her."

Mello felt his entire world stop.

He had never felt this feeling before. Not when L had told him his father was very likely a murderer, not even when he had found his mother, covered in blood.

No, time had still gone on. But right then, it felt like his entire world had ceased moving. He couldn't breathe, couldn't move, couldn't comprehend any thoughts at all. All he could do was stare straight ahead, and hear L's words echo maliciously throughout his mind: _I believe that he killed her_.

Mello jumped a little when he felt a hand on his arm. He slowly gained some awareness when he looked over and noticed Matt looking at him from behind his goggles, his eyes filled with concern. Mello closed his eyes and sort of shook his head, as though the thoughts could bounce around in his mind until they fell into place and made sense. But no matter how many times he was going to try and make sense of things, he knew he never would be able to. His _father_ had killed his mother? No, surely not. Surely, this was some kind of sick joke.

"I'm sorry I had to be the one to tell you that, Mello," L said quietly, finally breaking the intense silence that had blanketed the room. "You see, this is why I wanted to wait. I wanted to be as sure as I could that I was correct in thinking that your father murdered your mother."

"But _why_?" Mello asked. "I thought it was just a robbery..." He trailed off. At least, a robbery was easier to believe, because he couldn't believe that anyone who had known his mother could have _possibly_ killed her. It would have _had_ to have been a stranger. Or at least, that had been his reasoning...

"As for my justification for this conclusion, well, I have many suspicions, but I believe those shall have to wait." L's tone was gentle, or just entirely empathetic; Mello couldn't tell. Very likely the latter. "I think you should go back to your room; you've received a lot of news today..."

"No!" Mello said quickly, surprising all of them with the sudden anger in his voice."You did this last time and didn't contact us for three weeks! What are you waiting for, L? He could kill a dozen more people in that time!"

"Mello..." Watari said, a sharp warning in his voice.

L held up his hand in Watari's direction. "No, he's correct in his thinking, but Mello, I believe that he won't. None since the last time I've spoken to you have any more murders occurred, and I do not believe anything will for a few months yet."

"_Months_?" Mello asked incredulously. "How can you...how do you know...?"

"I'm about 70% sure of this, Mello. And do not think I'm idle concerning this case when I do not see you. Your role, and that of Near's and Matt's, will not come in until the very end of the case, and I do not believe that will be for some time. I will contact you again very soon." L glanced at Watari, and Watari cleared his throat.

"Okay, boys, time to go back," Watari said, moving towards the door. All three boys got up slowly, but Mello was the slowest of them all. He looked as though he was borrowing Atlas's role, bearing all of the world's weight for the time being.

Watari left them outside the room, and Near just sort of walked away, already playing with his finger puppets, as though nothing had happened. Mello, however, just stood there, looking at the ground.

"He won't let us help him!" he said angrily after a moment. "I've got to help!" He paused. "And he _killed_ her, Matt! He killed her!" Mello's voice got high-pitched, and his eyes were shiny with unshed tears.

"Maybe we should get back to the room," Matt suggested, gently grabbing Mello's arm. "Let's go back."

* * *

Matt had no idea what to say.

Not that that was a new thing, not by a long shot, but this time he knew he had to say _something_ to comfort Mello. He could see in Mello's eyes how much pain he was in, and all Matt wanted to do was make that go away. But how? Mello would never actually admit that he felt pain like _normal_ people.

They finally made it back to their room, and Mello just went and sat on Matt's bed, staring at a spot on the floor. Matt tentatively sat next to him and took his hand.

"Mello..." With his free hand, Matt began to rub small circles on Mello's back, and Mello closed his eyes. Sometimes, when they were kids, Matt would do this for Mello, and he knew that it would make him feel better, at least a little. "Mello, I'm so sorry..."

Mello continued to stay silent, his eyes closed. He tightened his grip on Matt's head but said nothing more for a few minutes.

"Mello, please, say something!" Matt finally burst out after a few minutes of horrifying silence. Mello _always_ had something to say. _Always_.

When Mello's eyes opened, Matt could see the tears that were threatening to drown the blond's beautiful blue irises. Mello blinked, and when he did, tears escaped, and he hurriedly tried to wipe them away, but Matt caught his hand, softly brushing the tears away himself.

"You'd better not tell _anyone_ about this, you idiot," Mello said softly, but with none of his usual bravado or threat. Instead, he just sounded tired. He rubbed his eyes to get rid of the rest of his tears. He did _not _cry.

"I won't." Matt paused before going on. "Mello, did you ever cry when your mother died? I mean..."

"Of course I didn't!" Mello snapped, interrupting Matt.

"But, I mean, it was just you and your mother, right? So you must have been close..."

"Of course we were!" Mello loudly, a little louder than he had intended. "She was all I had! And she was beautiful, and..." Mello had to take a deep breath. He couldn't let himself get caught up in memories of his mother. If he did, he didn't know if he would be able to contain his emotions, and that was _not _an option. "And she's dead," Mello finished dully. "End of story."

This was the most Matt had ever heard about Mello's mother. Although Mello had always expected Matt to talk about his past, he had never even let Matt ask about his.

"It's not 'end of story,' Mel. You obviously loved her and you never dealt with her dying..."

"I've dealt with it," Mello said softly. He had hoped Matt wouldn't see through the thin shield with which he was trying to defend himself. If he talked about his mother any more...he didn't know what he'd do.

"No, you haven't," Matt said patiently.

Of _course_ Matt had seen through his facade. It was one of the reasons Mello was friends with him, because he was the only person that could see through him when he needed him to.

"Do you remember, Mello, when I told you about what happened to me? I had to _trust_ you. You could trust me, you know."

Matt was right, of course. He had told Mello an incredibly personal thing about him; had shared a huge part of himself, and Mello had not returned the favor. Mello sighed in defeat, but made the quick decision that if he couldn't trust Matt he couldn't trust anybody, and he so badly wanted to trust someone. "Not much to tell," Mello said after a moment. "I woke up during the night, and I heard my mother screaming my name, screaming for me to run. I tried to run to her, but a large shape came towards me, so I ran the opposite way, down the stairs and into the yard." Mello took a deep breath, and Matt tightened his hold on Mello's hand. "They weren't really after me, so they didn't come looking for me. When I went back in, in the morning, she was dead. There was so much blood...." Mello's voice broke.

"It's okay," Matt whispered in Mello's ear, his free hand resuming his rubbing of Mello's back.

Mello nodded almost imperceptibly. "She was covered. She always kept the house so clean, but she was just covered in blood. The room was covered in blood."

"What did you do?" Matt asked softly. He was afraid if he talked in a normal voice, Mello would shatter into a thousand pieces.

"I took the rosary and sat there. And prayed."

Matt learned over and took the rosary in his hand. Mello wore it _always_, no matter the situation, and he knew it had always been extremely important to Mello, but he had never been told why. Now he knew; it had been his mother's.

"My mother prayed with me every day," Mello said after a moment. "She used this rosary, and held my fingers, and showed me how to pray with it." He swallowed hard. "She would say, 'Mihael, there is nothing more important that your faith. When all else fails, you have your faith.'"

Matt didn't know what to say. Mello had just let his real name slip, but he didn't know if he had meant to or not. "I-I...I'm so sorry."

Mello closed his eyes. "Thanks."

Matt hesitated before saying, "Mihael." He liked the way the exotic name rolled off his tongue. He looked over at Mello, to gauge his reaction.

"I always liked my name," Mello said after a moment. "Shame I can't use it anymore."

"I can use it, Mihael," Matt said quietly. "No one else has to know."

Mello particularly liked the way Matt said his name. "Fine. I told you mine, you tell me yours."

"I thought you said I should _never, ever_ do that," Matt said, a teasing tone to his voice. Mello was thankful that Matt was trying to break the tense atmosphere, at least a little. "I believe your exact words were, 'Why the fuck would you do that?'"

"Things have changed," Mello grumbled. "I trust you."

Matt sighed. "It's Mail. Mail Jeevas."

"Mail?"

Matt shrugged. "Yeah, no idea. Weird, huh?"

"Fits you," Mello decided after a minute of silent deliberation. "It's weird. And unique."

"Thanks," Matt said dryly, although he had to agree....and Mello's name truly fit him, Matt mused to himself, exotic and beautiful.

Mello was suddenly very, very close to Matt. "Well, _Mail_..." He pushed the redhead back on the bed and straddled him. "Let's continue where we were, huh?"

Matt wanted to. Oh, did Matt want to. In fact, as Mello's lips traveled along his collarbone, he _almost_ let him go on; his lips just felt so damn good on him.

But he couldn't.

Because he knew that Mello was feeling incredibly confused and despondent, and that to Mello, that equated vulnerability. Matt didn't want to take advantage of things now, and besides, he also knew that although Mello thought he needed _that_ kind of comfort, that wasn't the kind he needed; he needed to just be held and told everything would be okay; that things would look better in the morning.

"Mel." Matt gently pushed Mello off of him so that he could sit up, facing his blond best friend. "Let's go to bed, huh?"

"What? You want to fucking go to bed?" Mello asked, clearly both confused and disgusted as to why Matt would turn down some...quality time together.

"Mello, you're upset, and confused, and you need to sleep on it," Matt said calmly. "Everything's going to look better in the morning."

Mello let out an angry sigh before beginning to get up off the bed. "You're so fucking weird, you know that? We could be..."

"I know what we could be doing," Matt interrupted. "And believe me, I do. But Mel, not today. Not right now..."

"Fine." Mello stood up fully, but Matt took his hand, stopping him to going over to his own bed.

"Stay with me over here, Mel," Matt said quietly. "It's cold tonight, and you'll be nice and warm." Matt smiled, and Mello couldn't help but smile back. Mello leaned down and took off his shoes, and Matt followed, both of them crawling under Matt's covers. Mello wrapped his arms around Matt and held him like he would a teddy bear. He could hear Matt's heartbeat, and that was instantly comforting. Laying in bed with Matt like this, with Matt already drifting off to sleep, felt incredibly more intimate than anything they had done so far.

Mello sighed, and before he could think another thought, he joined Matt in sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Matt woke up to find Mello already showered and dressed. Matt had hoped that maybe he and Mello could talk about the day before, but all Mello did was completely cut Matt off and say, "Not talking about it, Matt," and then he moved on to moan about how they had a huge Calculus test in a few days that he had to study for. Matt had just sighed, knowing he would get no further. He had done all he could for Mello the night before, and now, all he could do was just be there for Mello when he needed him.

Later that day found both the boys holed up in their room for entirely different purposes: one, to study until his eyes fell out and his brain felt far too full, and the other one to finally, _finally_, finish Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days.

It wasn't hard to guess exactly which one was doing what.

Mello had managed to stay on track with studying almost the whole day pretty easily. It was easy for him to forget about the day before if he immersed himself in Calculus. However, his mind began straying when he looked over at his best friend.

Matt, all huddled up on the floor, his eyes following the screen, intent on whatever game he was playing. The look of concentration was unlike anything Mello had ever seen; he didn't know that someone _could_ concentrate that much on anything until he had met Matt.

Mello sighed. The way he concentrated was something he absolutely admired about his best friend. Boyfriend. ARGH! What the fuck were they?

"So...what exactly are we?" Mello asked Matt after finally deciding it was worth the awkward conversation so he could finally figure out what the fuck they were.

"What?" It took Matt a moment to look up from his DS to stare at Mello.

"What are we?" Mello repeated.

The look of confusion on Matt's face deepened. "Uh...human? Male...?"

Mello sighed impatiently while rolling his eyes. Matt just sometimes didn't get it. "What is our...title, exactly?"

"Our title?" Matt asked. He had switched his DS off and set it beside him, giving Mello his full attention.

"Yeah, like...the title for our relationship."

"Oh." Matt's face scrunched up in confusion. "Well. I mean...we're best friends, right?"

"Yeah," Mello said slowly. "But...I don't think most best friends think of each other the way I think of you."

Mello could immediately feel his face flush in embarrassment. He had just practically told Matt he fantasized about him. Fantastic.

"You-you think about me?" Matt asked after a minute.

"Well, I...I...you know..." Mello fumbled for the right words to get him out of the deep hole he had obviously dug himself into to, but he couldn't think of any.

"That's okay. I think about you, too," Matt said, completely nonchalantly, already back at his DS. Leave it to Matt to make some big confession and then act like it wasn't a big deal or anything.

Because, damn it, it was a big deal!

Mello let out an irritated sigh. "So...say I were to introduce you to someone, what would I say?"

"Who are you going to introduce me to? I know everyone you know, and we never meet anybody new."

"Not the point!" Mello argued. "Not even the point at all!"

"Then what is the point?"

"Say we did meet someone new. I would say, 'Hi, I'm Mello, and this is my...." Mello trailed off, hoping Matt would _finally_ get the point.

"This is Matt?" Matt finished, still not even looking up from his DS. "Sounds okay to me."

Of course he wouldn't get it.

Mello reached over and grabbed the DS out of Matt's hands, throwing it back on his own bed. He would never get anywhere if Matt was in the middle of playing whatever game he was playing.

"Fine, Mel." Matt sighed. "What the hell are you so worked up about?"

"I need to know what we _are, _Matt! If I were to introduce you, would I say this is my _friend_, Matt? Or my _good acquaintance_, Matt? Or my _boyfriend_, Matt?"

"Good acquaintance?" Matt said, with a hint of smile.

"Not the point, Matt!" Mello said loudly with gritted teeth.

"Boyfriend is okay with me," Matt said after a minute. "Because we're...dating, aren't we?"

"I think so. So...I can call you my boyfriend? I mean, people would know we're actually dating. You know that, right?" Mello wanted to make absolute sure Matt knew exactly what the implications were that came with the title 'boyfriend.'

"Sort of got that, Mel."

"My boyfriend, Matt..." Mello said slowly. He liked how it sounded. He felt the sudden urge to run around Wammy's and say to every person he saw, "Hey, this is my _boyfriend_, Matt!"

Wait. What the _fuck_? This wasn't...Mello. He wasn't mushy or sentimental like this. So what? Matt was his boyfriend. A lot of the Wammy kids dated. It wasn't anything new. Besides, it wasn't like he was in it for the mushy stuff. He told Matt he liked him. That was enough, wasn't it?

"Okay, my boyfriend Mello..." Matt hoped that if he caught Mello after they had just had a somewhat more upbeat conversation, then maybe the outcome would be significantly more positive. "As your boyfriend, I now have the right to be concerned about you. About your well-being. And I'm extremely worried about you, Mel. About yesterday."

"I said I didn't want to talk about it." Mello could feel his happiness instantly drown in a well of depression and sadness.

"I know. We don't have to, really, but...I just want to know that you're okay. Knowing you, you've drawn some conclusions about yesterday, and also knowing you, they're completely wrong."

Mello threw him a glare, but then just shrugged. "I've been studying all day. I haven't had a chance to think about it."

"Whatever. You're never just thinking about one thing, you're always thinking about a million things. So, yeah, you did."

Truthfully, Mello had managed to keep himself busy enough that L's words hadn't echoed in his mind the whole day. He had managed to keep most of his thoughts at bay.

Except one. One had nagged at his him the entire day, ambushing him when he had finally stopped thinking about it so he would have to start thinking about it all over again. Instinctually, Mello opened his mouth to tell Matt to fuck off, but how could he do that when he had just told Matt how he wanted to call him his boyfriend?

"I thought we've established we can tell each other anything," Matt whispered.

Mello sighed, and said barely audibly, "What if I'm just like my father?" Mello whispered, putting his head in his hands.

Matt was shocked. How could he possibly come to _that _conclusion? He took Mello's hands so that he was forced to lift up his head to look at Matt directly. "You're not. You never could be..."

"I could be," Mello interrupted, yanking himself out of Matt's grasp. "I'm impatient, and moody, and angry, and..."

"Yes, you are," Matt said after a moment. "All of those things."

"Oh, wow, thanks, Matt, I feel so much better," Mello said bitterly as he tried to get up.

Matt yanked him back down. "And don't forget completely sarcastic and cynical. But you're also brilliant, and smart, and caring, and loyal and honest. All of those things, too. Your virtues far outweigh your vices."

Mello couldn't help but smile a little. "Thanks. But..."

"Mello." Matt took both of Mello's hands. "Mello, you will _never_ become your father. _Ever_. You don't have the personality for it. And also, I wouldn't let you." He leaned over and kissed Mello softly on the lips.

Mello threw himself eagerly into the kiss, catching Matt completely off guard. He had expected Mello to be all timid about it, since he seemed to be in such a fragile emotional state. But apparently for Mello, that meant the exact _opposite_ reaction then what everyone else would have had.

As usual, the first thing to go were Matt's goggles. Matt winced when he heard them hit the desk. They were already slightly cracked in the left lens from Mello doing the same thing the other day, and he didn't really care for the lens to be entirely gone. He didn't really have time to mull it over, though, because Mello's lips were suddenly on his.

Matt never could quite get over what Mello could do with his lips. He could make every thought disappear from Matt, and make him so drowned in pleasure he couldn't stand it. Matt was dragged out of his reverie by Mello beginning to slowly take off his shirt. He let him; besides, it would make more room for Mello to kiss. But instead of Mello doing that, he started to unbuckle Matt's jeans.

"Wait. Wow." Matt grabbed his hand.

"Just trust me, Matt," Mello said, but he didn't keep going until Matt nodded.

Mello quickly undid Matt's jeans, and wasn't the least bit surprised to see Mario boxers underneath. He threw both Matt's jeans and shirt aside, and quickly undressed himself of the leather. Matt would never be able to figure out the leather anyway. He smiled when he saw Matt blush; Mello didn't really like the feel of underwear and often went without it.

"Isn't it supposed to be some sexy stripping, or something?" Matt asked shakily.

Mello shrugged. "Maybe." But God, he just wanted to _feel _Matt.

Mello bent down and began to kiss Matt's neck. Immediately, he felt like nothing else in the world mattered but Matt. _His_ Matt, _his_ boyfriend. He could see nothing but Matt, feel nothing but Matt, smell nothing but Matt...

"M-Mello..." Matt gasped after a minute of Mello's ministrations. "I..." Matt didn't really know _what_ he had wanted to say. With Mello's lips running over his entire body, he was having a hard time forming a coherent thought, let alone a coherent sentence.

"Yes, Matt?" Mello said, a devious smile on his face. He ran his tongue under the waistband of Matt's boxers, and he felt Matt shiver.

"I...well, you know..." Matt shuddered when he felt Mello begin to take off his boxers, and all thoughts went out of his mind.

It took all Mello had, but he stopped. "Are you ready, Matt?"

"R-ready?"

"Ready for sex, you moron. I kind of thought it was implied we are about to have _sex_. I mean, you know what that is, don't you?"

Matt nodded slowly. "Well, yeah. Not really with another guy, though."

Mello sighed. Jesus. This was just going to have to be step-by-step, wasn't it? "We'll figure it out, Matt."

Matt bit his lip, which meant he was nervous. "Mel, I've never...you know. Well...where I wanted to do it...." Matt trailed off.

"It's okay, Matt." Mello stroked his hair. "I've never done this, either, so we're even." Mello leaned down and pried Matt's lips apart with his tongue so that he could explore Matt's mouth. Matt groaned, and Mello couldn't help but smile.

"So can I take that as a yes?"

Matt nodded. "Yeah, just...be careful, okay?"

Mello rolled his eyes. "No, I thought I'd be un-careful. Jesus, Matt, of course I'll be careful." Mello's devious grin returned as his lips returned to Matt's, and his hands traveled downward.

With one quick motion, Mello had Matt's boxers off, and Matt broke the kiss and raised an eyebrow.

Mello merely shrugged. "One of my God given talents, Mail." He grinned when he saw Matt flush as Mello looked at him. "Matt, it's not the first time I've seen you naked."

"I know. But it's the first time you've seen me naked and actually _looked_."

Mello cleared his throat. "Nope, not the first time for that either." When he saw the look on Matt's face, he sighed. "Just relax, Matt." He leaned down and placed a line of open-mouthed kisses down Matt's ribcage. "This...is...going...to...be...awesome..." Mello punctuated the pauses between each word with a kiss.

"I trust you," Matt said softly. "Just don't expect anything spectacular."

Mello let out an irritated sigh. "Totally ruining the mood, Matt. Just give me a few minutes, and you won't be worried, believe me."

Matt didn't even have a chance to answer; Mello's lips had found their way back to his.

After a minute or two, he broke the kiss, and started his journey down, starting at Matt's throat and then moving slowly downward. Matt felt like he was a ball of twine that was slowly being unwound; he could feel all of his apprehension disappearing and being replaced by the need to touch Mello. When the blond attempted to reach back up and kiss Matt on the lips again, Matt caught him, placing a few tentative kisses on the place where the throat meets the collarbone, knowing that it drove Mello crazy. He nipped at the spot, and Mello groaned.

"I can't concentrate if you're doing that," Mello said, his voice strained.

"Well, try harder, then..." Matt countered as he placed a kiss right at the base of Mello's throat.

Mello shook his head to clear the haze that had blanketed his mind. He couldn't let Matt do this; _he_ had to be the one in control. He made a split second decision and captured Matt's wrists above his head, effectively holding his hands down. Mello really, really liked the feeling of Matt's hands on him, but...he wouldn't be able to keep any semblance of control if Matt had kept doing what he was doing. Matt groaned in protest, but didn't really do much to get loose, although he surely could have.

"Just stay still," Mello demanded. He placed a soft kiss on Matt's lips. "I wouldn't want to hurt you."

Matt rolled his eyes. "As if you could."

Mello just continued kissing Matt, trying desperately to make sure that he was relaxed as possible. After a few minutes, when Matt let out the most contented sigh Mello had ever heard out of him, he smiled. "I have to let you go. Stay still."

Matt just nodded. Mello released his wrists, and he wanted to immediately start touching the blond again, but he found that he couldn't; Mello had zapped him of all his strength. He regained some, however, when he suddenly felt Mello's lips on his left hip, which was very intimately close to...another place.

Mello pulled up quickly. "I don't have anything to...make this easier, or whatever." He swallowed. "This may kind of hurt."

"Mello, it's not like this has never been done to me before," Matt said gently.

"But I'm not going to try and hurt you," Mello whispered. "You're going to have to tell me if it hurts."

"I will," Matt promised. He suddenly felt more confident. Mello _wanted_ him to enjoy it. He _wanted_ Matt to feel comfortable. "Here." He reached down and grabbed Mello's hand, pulling it up to his mouth. When Matt began to suck on three of Mello's fingers, Mello almost pulled away. What the fuck was he doing? But just as Mello was about to voice his question, Matt pulled out Mello's fingers.

"It'll make it a little...easier," Matt explained. "Just be gentle, okay?"

Mello nodded. He had never felt like being more gentle than he did right now. He wanted Matt to know that sex didn't have to be painful, or be a power struggle (even if he did relish being in control...) He felt like a sentimental ass, but right then, he didn't care.

"Spread your legs for me a little, all right?" Mello said after a moment of silence. Matt did as Mello had asked, and Mello took a deep breath before entering a finger. He didn't see any reaction on Matt's face, so he said, "Is it okay for me to do another?"

Matt nodded. "Yeah, okay."

Mello tentatively entered another one, and this time, he could see Matt grimace in pain. "I-I'm sorry, Matt. I can stop if you want."

Matt shook his head. "No just...it's okay. Don't worry about me."

Of course Mello was going to worry about him, but he kept going. He began to slowly moving his fingers in and out, scissoring so as to stretch Matt a little more. He never took his eyes off Matt, although Matt had long ago closed his. After awhile, Mello began to see the grimace disappear, replaced by a more...content look.

"Do another one, Mel," Matt said quietly.

Mello nodded and entered another finger. Matt winced, but said no more as Mello began the same process. He just prayed that Matt would really tell him if he was hurting him, and that he wouldn't just keep going for Mello's sake. The blond suddenly curled his fingers up, hoping that he would find _that_ spot. He knew he had found that spot when Matt cried out, his back arching.

"Mello...Jesus..." Matt said loudly. "Good freaking God!"

Mello was suddenly very glad that all of the Wammy kids was out on an outing today. Although...hearing something like that coming from their room usually meant they were fighting, not doing...well, other things.

"Ready, Matt?" Mello asked, leaning down to kiss his boyfriend.

"Yeah, please, just...yeah!" He gasped breathlessly.

Mello quickly pulled out his fingers and positioned himself at Matt's entrance. He slowly started to enter, and he could plainly see he was causing Matt pain. He tried to slow down as much as possible, kissing Matt wherever he could, hoping to kiss away the pain. He had to trust that Matt would say if he was hurting him too much. Mello had to ignore the urge to just thrust right in there; it felt so good to be inside Matt that he wanted to take him quickly...

After what seemed like a long time, Mello whispered, "I'm all the way in."

Matt nodded. "Yeah. I get that. You're supposed to move, you know."

The usually absent sarcasm in Matt's voice made Mello smile lovingly at his boyfriend. He looked so sexy under Mello, all sweaty and breathing hard. Mello wondered absently how anyone could see Matt as anything _but_ beautiful.

"Yeah, I thought maybe it was something like that." Mello pulled out slowly and thrust back in. He began to slowly do this, letting Matt get used to what Mello imagined would be both an awkward and painful sensation. He was planning on continuing this for a few minutes, when Matt said darkly, "Am I going to have to show you this myself?"

Mello punished his boyfriend for that insolent remark by thrusting in especially hard, aiming for what he hoped was the spot he had hit earlier. Matt made an animalistic sound somewhere between a yell and a groan, and Mello knew he had found it. He continued at that angle, causing Matt to make those sounds every time. Mello, too, was having a hard time keeping his voice down; he had never felt more amazing then he did right now, inside of Matt.

"Mello...I'm really....close!" Matt finally managed to get out. "I don't think I'm going to last much..." Matt didn't even get the words out; he cried out when he came. The sudden tightening sensation sent Mello over his edge as well, causing him to bury his face in the crook of Matt's neck as he groaned loudly.

Mello eventually collapsed on Matt, both of them breathing loudly, covered in sweat and other bodily fluids. Neither of them could find the power of speech; it just seemed too difficult to do right then. It felt almost as though they had been through a war; neither of them felt like they could get up.

Finally, after a long time of silence punctuated only by their panting, Mello broke the silence. "Okay. That was way better than I thought it was going to be, and somehow, I think we'll just get better with practice."

"Practice?" Matt said lazily, rubbing circles over Mello's shoulder blade. Currently, the blond was sprawled across him, his head resting on Matt's shoulder. Mello was pleased to hear how content Matt sounded.

"Yeah, practice," Mello said, lifting up his head so he could look at Matt. "C'mon, you knew that if you got me into bed, I'd be a total man-whore. Let's face it."

Matt grinned. "Well, I _may_ just let you practice on me again." His face suddenly turned serious. "But seriously, thanks Mel, for being gentle. I know it's hard..."

Mello covered Matt's mouth with his hand. "Shut up. I _should_ be gentle. I just didn't want to hurt you."

"You didn't," Matt said quickly. "I mean, more than you had to." He ran a hand through Mello's hair. "Thank you."

Mello let out a breath. _His_ Matt, laying under him, sexy as hell..."You know, Matt, I never, ever thought I'd say this to another human being, but I _may_ just love you."

Matt smiled. "I _might_ love you, too, Mihael." He closed his eyes. "I think I love you more than I deserve."

Mello pinched his shoulder. "No, never." He settled his head back on Matt's shoulder and smiled. "Although...I think you're going to have something far more entertaining to do than Pokemon now."

Matt shrugged. "Don't know about Pokemon...but...for sure Kingdom Hearts. Pick you over that anytime."

"Better pick me over anything, every time," Mello said, closing his eyes.

He knew Matt would, because that was just Matt.

He knew _he_ would, because he was more in love with his boyfriend than he knew how to express.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for reading! If you would review, that would be great. I know, I know, sometimes I read a fic and don't review, but really, even if it's just a little thing, it's AWESOME. So it would be great if you would!

Sorry I'm not a regular updater. My friend, tenspeeed457, is a beast at updating. She does ALL THE TIME. She would do it a lot faster, too, if she didn't have me as her incredibly slow beta. And also, thanks to her for beta-ing.

I just also have to say, when I wrote this lemon, my cat decided to come and lay on top of me as I was typing this (which she never does), and she was facing the screen. I felt like she was reading it...and I felt really awkward. Oh, Abbey, thankfully you can't read...

**note from tenspeed457:** Yeah, don't listen to her. She's a great beta. And Krista, how do you know Abbey can't read? That might explain a lot of things... Lacey (my kitty) does that all the time too. I have to push her off the bed if I'm trying to write anything even slightly citrusy. Not that I'm paranoid or anything...


	7. Chapter 7

Hey. :)

Wow. It has been something like two months since I've updated. I'm sorry that it has been that beastly long...honestly, sometimes I don't know where the time goes...

Anyway, this chapter is just fluff. Really, there's absolutely no plot progression at all (okay, maybe a VERY LITTLE bit at the end), but I just needed to write some really adorable MelloxMatt stuff, so I tried. :)

I don't own Death Note. Sadly.

And thanks to tenspeed457 for being my lovely beta.

* * *

Chapter six

Mello was abruptly awoken the next morning by the sound of thunder reverberating through the sky and torrents of rain slamming against the window. Mello groaned; not only did he hate storms, but, like with anything else in his life, Mello hated that he couldn't control something; in this case, it was the time he woke up. He hated waking up early anyway, let alone by anything other than his own accord.

Mello sighed and resigned himself to that fact that he should probably just get out of bed; he had an enormous pile of of work to be completed. He tried to stretch, but found he was completely entangled in Matt.

Mello immediately froze. It occurred to him that he had no idea how to handle himself in this sort of situation, and he hated that feeling as well. Sure, he had woken up next to Matt many a time before, but never totally naked and post...well, whatever they had done the night before.

Before Mello could decide on his next course of action, Matt began to stir beside him, opening his eyes to reveal the beautiful green. Matt seemed disoriented for a moment, but he finally gained his bearings, and smiled widely at Mello.

"Morning," Matt said softly, stretching his arms slightly above his head.

"Morning," Mello repeated, feeling completely stupid and unsure, feelings he both hated and were not accustomed to. Should he stay with Matt, or... just leave, like nothing had happened? Luckily, Matt decided for him and wrapped his arms around Mello, settling his head on Mello's shoulder. Mello sighed irritatedly, but truly, he enjoyed the feeling of Matt beside him, and he also knew that he could be content to stay that way all day long.

"Are you okay?" Matt asked, holding his head up so he could look Mello in the eye.

"I should probably ask you that," Mello said thoughtfully. He found that his fingers were gently combing through Matt's hair, and although his first instinct was to stop showing any sign of affection that had nothing to do with pleasure and all do with love, Mello continued his ministrations, almost not hearing Matt's answer.

"I'm fine," Matt said, shrugging the best he could while still sprawled all over Mello. "A little sore, but fine."

Mello winced a little; he knew he had hurt Matt the night before, even though he had done all he could to be gentle. "I'm sorry, Matt. I tried... um..." Mello trailed off, unsure what to say next. Matt grinned to himself; apologies were not Mello's strong suit.

"It's fine, Mel. I mean, I knew it was going to hurt. I mean, uh, logically, you know, with what was going on..." Matt stumbled over his words, and Mello felt a little better; Matt had gone back to being his awkward self...

Mello was suddenly stirred out of his reverie by Matt's voice. "Sorry, Matt, what?"

"Thank you," Matt repeated, once again looking Mello in the eye.

"For what?"

"For last night," Matt answered matter-of-factly, as though that were the most obvious answer in the world, propping himself on his elbows so he was above Mello.

"Matt." Mello couldn't help but roll his eyes. "You don't say 'Thank you' after doing...you know."

Matt began to trace Mello's collarbone with a few of his fingers, and Mello couldn't help but shiver. "I'm saying thank you for showing me that doing...that...doesn't have to be scary, that it can and should be pleasurable to both people, and that it doesn't have to hurt."

Immediately, the guilty feelings began to wash over Mello. "But you...said you were sore. I'm sorry..."

Matt shook his head. "When I mean 'hurt,' Mello, I mean two different things. With...them, they _wanted_ to hurt me, and it was excruciating. With us, I know you would never intentionally hurt me, and this is more like an ache, because it was really, really good." Matt's face flushed instantly.

Mello just smiled and took advantage of Matt's embarrassment by catching him off guard and flipping him over so that Mello was on top, smiling down at a very obviously disoriented Matt.

"Yes, it was amazing," Mello agreed. He placed a soft kiss on Matt's lips. "And don't worry...we'll get even better."

Matt looked surprised. "So we're going to do it again?"

"Of course we are! Jesus, Matt, did you think once was it?"

"I-I don't know. I guess I _hoped_ it wasn't, because I love you, and I liked...I liked being that close to someone I really love."

Mello's heart melted. Only Matt..."I love you, too, you idiot. I've loved you since that day you showed me Pokemon."

A large smile broke out on Matt's face. "Me, too," Matt said brightly. "Even though you still can't recite the first 150 original Pokemon."

Mello sighed. "I will _never_ be able to recite the first 150, Matt, nor do I care to, but..."

Matt grinned widely before interrupting Mello. There was nothing Mello hated more than Matt reciting all the Pokemon he knew (and not, shockingly, that was a _lot, _especially since by now, there were well over the original 150), since normally Matt did it when Mello was trying to study.

And there was really nothing more fun (except, perhaps, maybe his many games), than irritating Mello when he was trying to study.

"Well, I know you _say_ that you don't want to know, but you also said that you really didn't like me, and look where we ended up, so..."

Mello gave a slight glare to Matt before saying, "Just shut up and kiss me, Matt."

"Always with the romantics, huh, Mel--" Matt's voice broke with the sudden presence of Mello's lips against his neck, kissing right where his pulse was jackhammering.

"If I let you recite your Pokemon, will you let me do whatever I want to you?" Mello said in between kisses. He and Matt both knew that even without the reciting, Mello could do whatever he wanted, and Matt wouldn't care in the least, but sometimes....sometimes Mello didn't mind Matt's quirkiness. In fact, right about then, he found it downright sexy.

"Y-yeah, I bet I could do th-that," Matt managed to get out as he arched his neck to give Mello more access.

Mello lifted up his head to give Matt an evil smirk. "How about we place a little bet? If you can get through reciting even _ten _Pokemon at a normal speed, then I will let you do anything you want to me. If you lose, then tonight, I get to do anything I want to you, and believe me, it _will _involve chocolate" Mello's evil grin widened.

Matt swallowed, hard. "I honestly don't know if I want to win or lose. But just because you'd be smug if you won, I will prove you wrong."

Mello just shrugged. "Fine. You got yourself a deal, Mail. Your time starts right now."

Matt smiled smugly. He could name Pokemon under _any_ condition. Hell, he could remember more than once when him and Mello were getting shot at, and what had Matt done to calm down? Recite Pokemon.

"Be prepared to lose, Mihael. Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, Venu...Jesus Christ, Mel!" Matt practically yelled as Mello took Matt into his mouth. Mello could immediately feel Matt responding, and he smiled to himself.

"Well, you lose," Mello said after a moment, pulling away. Matt whimpered in protest at the absence of Mello's lips on him.

"Just...c'mon, Mel, please!" Matt begged, not even caring in the least that he had had to resort to grovel to Mello.

"Admit that you lost..." Mello said, grinning sardonically. "And maybe I'll continue."

In the back caverns of Matt's mind, he knew that if he admitted defeat, Mello would surely use it as ammunition later, but his body really didn't care what his mind though, and consequently, Matt whined, "Fine, I lost, I lost!"

"God, I love hearing that," Mello said more to himself than anybody as he dipped his head lower again.

And for once, Matt didn't regret admitting defeat to Mello; in fact, he was sure he would have told Mello whatever he had wanted to hear by that point. He had begged, he had groveled, but later on, although Matt would never admit it out loud, it had been worth it.

Very, very worth it.

* * *

"Didn't even got through four," Mello taunted Matt with a smug smile on his face as he and Matt stepped out of the shower. "In fact, I'm only giving you credit for two, since you didn't get all the way through the third. Be prepared, Mail, because tonight there will be a lot of chocolate involved."

Matt couldn't helped but be pleased by that dark promise, but he, of course, could never let Mello know that, so instead he shook out his wet hair towards Mello, earning himself a fierce scowl and a jab in the ribs from his blonde boyfriend. "That wasn't even fair, Mel. Jesus. The whole freaking _building_ could've been on fire, and I still don't think I would've cared."

Mello couldn't help but smile to himself; oh, yes, he had had Matt exactly where he wanted him, and both he and Matt knew it. Oh, to be in control...

Mello, however, chose not to go down that road with Matt, and just shrugged. He reached over to pull a towel out of one of the cupboards, and haphazardly tossed it on Matt's head, earning himself sputters of protest from a shocked and confused Matt.

"Mel, what the fuck?" Matt yelped, struggling to get the towel off.

"Stay still, idiot," Mello demanded. "There's not much more I could do to you that I haven't already done." Mello grinned when he could practically feel the heat from Matt's flushed face.

Since it seemed Matt's embarrassment had caused temporarily paralysis, Mello took full advantage of the situation and began to rub the towel vigorously over his head, both effectively drying Matt's hair and also annoying him to rage all at the same time.

"Jesus, stop, Mello!" Matt said loudly, pushing Mello away. "That kind of hurts!"

Mello ignored both Matt's protests and pushes until he was satisfied that his boyfriend's hair was as dry as it was going to get. Just as it seemed Matt was going to explode with rage and frustration, Mello slipped the towel around Matt's neck, and quickly kissed him, silencing the inevitable, "Fuck you, Mello" that would have been uttered by Matt.

"Could've been gentle about it," Matt muttered when they finally broke the kiss, all his anger dissolved. He reached around Mello for another towel. "See..." Matt trailed off as he began to tenderly dry Mello's blonde locks. Mello closed his eyes and sighed with content. Matt was right; this felt very....well, nice.

"See, didn't that feel nice?" Matt asked as she took the towel away. He began to comb his fingers through the tresses, although he knew he really needn't to; Mello's perfect hair never tangled. But really, he had always longed to drag his fingers through Mello's hair, and now that he got to do it whenever he wanted to, he vowed to take advantage of it at every opportunity.

"Maybe," Mello admitted reluctantly after a moment of trying everything he could not to shiver under Matt's touch. "But the other way was more fun."

Matt just shook his head and smiled. He went to reach around Mello once again to grab another towel so that he could dry his body, when Mello grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back in front of him. For a moment, Mello felt his heart stop mid-beat; Matt just looked so damn _beautiful _naked, the water dripping off him in seductive patterns. Mello suddenly had the image of licking every single drop of water of Matt's smooth, soft skin flash into his head...

"What?" The sound of Matt's voice broke Mello's sudden fantasy, and Mello about groaned from the fading image, then smiled coyly.

"I was just thinking how beautiful you looked, and how I'd lick to lick all the water off your body." To punctuate his point, Mello leaned over and ran his tongue up Matt's neck, causing Matt to groan softly with pleasure.

"M-Mello....we j-just _got_ clean." Matt stumbled over his words as he always did when Mello touched him. "And only kind of, since we....well, you know...while in the shower."

Mello grinned. Oh, yes, that was an experience he _really intended_ to repeat many, many more times, even if it did defeat the entire purpose of why they were in the shower in the first place.

But that was _entirely_ beside the point.

As difficult as it proved to be, both Matt and Mello managed to emerge from their room about an hour later, completely dry and dressed. The lunch rush was just getting over, so when the two made it to the cafeteria, it was almost completely empty, save for the white-haired boy sitting at the end table.

"Ugh. Good mood just ruined," Mello said, glancing towards Near. "Let's just get some chocolate and go."

"Some people need actual food, Mel," Matt said dryly, as he began to spoon himself some soup. "Besides, I actually _like _Near."

The glare that Mello directed at Matt would've killed a lesser person, but Matt just lowered his googles and walked towards the albino, soup and apple in hand. Mello quickly grabbed a chocolate bar before running to catch up with Matt before he got to Near.

"I thought we had this conversation about Near," Matt said when Mello grabbed his sleeve. "Don't get so bent out of shape about it. Besides." Matt's face brightened to the color of a tomato, but he continued. "Who was it last night that I was letting do unspeakable things to me?"

Mello's eyebrow shot up into his bangs. Usually, he was the one doing sexual innuendos. Not that he minded his boyfriend doing it, though. In fact...

"The answer isn't Near," Matt answered for himself.

"Jesus, Matt. That's gross. I can't even imagine....how that would work. I mean....Ugh." Mello's face wrinkled up in disgust, and he just shook his head at the thought of the little albino boy even _near _his boyfriend.

"C'mon," Matt said, nudging Mello with his elbow since he didn't have any free hands. "Let's go."

Once they go to the table, Mello made sure that Matt took the seat directly across from Near, while he sat next to Matt, sitting as close as he could without actually sitting on him. Even Near, as clueless as he normally was, noticed the body language when he looked up from his food. Clearly, the idea "MINE" was written all over Mello's face.

"How's it going, Near?" Matt asked pleasantly as he began to ladle soup in his mouth.

Near shrugged. "Boring, as always. Although, it sounds as though you two are leading a far more interesting life than I am."

"How so, Near?" Mello asked, malice dripping like poison from every word.

"Well, clearly, from the sounds coming from your room last night, you were enjoying yourselves and engaging in...."

"I know what we were engaging in!" Mello snapped, interrupting the boy completely, while also attempting to make sure Matt wasn't going to choke on the soup he had practically inhaled from embarrassment. "God, Near, you're such a little freak!"

Near titled his head and looked innocently at Mello. "No, I am not. I went to go and see if you wanted to talk about the case last night, but evidently, you were engaged in something else."

Matt's face had colored to a red that Near didn't even know existed, while Mello's glare bore holes into the wall behind Near.

"Near." Mello tried to be patient, but he was finding it very difficult. Even more difficult than usual. "I didn't even know that you knew about...that." Okay, so Mello had_wanted_ to rage at him, but he knew from experience that it did nothing more than frustrate him when Near sat there stoically. However, if he tried to embarrass him, well....that was fun.

"Of course I do," Near said matter-of-factly. "How could I not?"

"What do you mean?" Mello asked. Wammy's did not even so much as _discuss _sex, and he couldn't imagine where Near would have picked it up from the outside world since he never actually _went _outside. Or, rather, not that much. If he did, it was to check up on a mission or something else business related; it was never strictly for pleasure. The only way he would really know anything about it would be if...

"Well, isn't it natural for people to engage in sexual intercourse when they're in a relationship?" Near asked. He had already continued to eat his cake, as though this was something he spoke of everyday, as though they were chatting pleasantly about the weather.

"Who the fuck are you in a relationship with?" Mello asked loudly, almost crushing his chocolate bare in his clenched fist.

Near's eyes briefly met Mello's as he answered, "Why, L, of course."

Matt could practically see the rage and fury threatening to explode from Mello, so he put his arm around his waist and pulled him even closer if that were possible. Mello, however, ignored the comforting gesture and just glared at Near.

"What did you say?" he asked slowly. "I must have heard wrong."

"I said L," Near repeated calmly. Near was so emotionless that he often didn't pick up on other's people's emotions, even if they were as blatant was Mello's.

"You....you and L...are together. Like, _together_ together?"

Near's brows furrowed in confusion. "There's a difference?"

"You and L are together, like, enough that you've discussed sex?" Mello asked in that same slow voice.

"Isn't it logical to discuss something before you do it? I'm sure you and Matt did before...?"

Matt sighed inwardly, knowing what the one question was going to do with Mello. What Near had just alluded to meant that he and L had had sex, which meant that Near had lost his virginity before Mello had. One more thing Mello was second to to Near, and Matt knew he would take it as a defeat, no matter how petty it may be.

"You're telling me you've had sex with L?" Mello said, this time his voice deadly quiet. Matt had grabbed Mello's hand, but now regretted doing so; Mello was now holding Matt's hand so tight Matt's hand was in danger of just completely coming off.

Near nodded. "Yes," he answered. "Of course we have."

Mello took a large breath and exhaled slowly, trying to regain some level of reasoning, although deep down he knew that the effort was futile. Once again, he was second to Near. The little freak bastard...

"How the hell have you had a relationship with someone who's only been here, like, twice?" Matt asked as Mello continued to turn darker shades of red. It occurred to Matt that he probably should remove Mello from the situation entirely, but his curiosity had gotten the best of him.

Near barely glanced up from his continuing conquest of the cake. "I see him a few times a month, when I go out to do mission-related business."

"So why Matt and I are back here slaving away, you're having sex with L?" Mello asked angrily, barely managing to contain his anger.

"First, I highly doubt you and Matt, even before you were in a relationship, were back her slaving away," Near pointed out in his methodical tone. "And second, what I do with my personal time--and what L does with his--is our business."

"That's disgusting, Near. L is, like, 25, and you're...what? 12?" Mello spat out, as though the words were poison. "Ugh!"

This time, Near's gaze slid up to meet Mello's angry blue eyes, and they held what might have been a hint of annoyance. "I'm 16, Mello. And L is 24. That's only eight years, and that's hardly anything, really."

Mello just shook his head, inwardly recoiling at the thought of Near and L together. At the same time, he could feel the anger boiling again; not only had Near had sex before Mello, but he also was allowed intimate time with L; Near probably knew L's most important secrets, just like Mello knew Matt's.

"We've got to go," Mello said abruptly, grabbing Matt's arm and dragging him up. Matt practically choked on the piece of apple he had been chewing. "Give our regards to L."

Mello had already turned around and had begun to drag his boyfriend away, when Near said, "You can do it yourself. He wants to meet with us at noon. He says there's something important he needs to tell us."

"You know what, Near? You can go tell L he can fuck himself." A sneer spread across Mello's face. "Or I guess you can. Or he can you... I have no idea how that would work, and I don't really care to figure it out. I don't need L's help, and I _sure as hell_ don't need yours. I'll solve this all by myself."

Near actually showed some surprise, but said nothing as Mello walked away, pulling a dumbfounded Matt along with him. Finally, when Mello had dragged Matt outside, to their little grove, Matt pulled away.

"What the fuck was that, Mel?" Matt said loudly as he spun around so his back was to Mello. "We need L!"

Mello shook his head adamantly. "No, we don't. We can do this together." He took Matt's hand and smiled, just a little, wanting Matt to turn around. "I never need anybody but you," he told him, hoping the uncharacteristically cheesy line would get Matt's attention.

Matt sighed and turned around to face his boyfriend. "Fine. What's your plan?"

"We're leaving."

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it. It would be AWESOMEAMAZINGSPECTACULAR if you'd review. Whenever I get one, it makes my day. :)

So...by the way, if you like Yu-Gi-Oh, I'm writing a AtemxSeth one, and my beta, tenspeed457, writes really awesome ones...of all sorts of pairings. Okay. So now our commercial break is over. :)

And oh, mannnnn, if any of you guys are on Facebook, there are fan pages for all the Death Note characters, and they are very, very entertaining. Often, they make my day.

**Note from tenspeed457****:** sorry, guys. I tried to get her to work on it... :P it's not my fault. I hope I didn't miss too many errors... there weren't that many that I could find, but then again, it's almost two in the morning, so yeah. also, I love Near. just throwing that out there. and if you want to read a Near/Gevanni fic... I've got one that I'm almost done with! *wink wink nudge nudge* okay, sorry Krista. I'll stop stealing your glory. see you later, everyone. hope you liked the chapter!!!!!


End file.
